MARION BASCHET VERNET 2021 marks the beginning of a new age of health for the self-medication manufacturers reunited within NerèS, the former AFIPA as these latter want to be able to influence more the decisions impacting the future of first-line healthcare and prevention products. And time has come as the crisis has shown that the French are now ready to “manage their own health”. For packaging suppliers and contract manufacturers, this unique period was favourable to strengthening their relationships with customers. The idea behind would be to increasingly support them in the future in areas such as proper use, eco-design and supply chain security. Partners for proper use and eco-design As for packaging suppliers and contract manufactures, despite the gloomy year related to Covid-19, self-medication remains a promising area for development and innovation, in particular among food supplements. Formany, the health crisis has been favourable to strengthening relationships with the clients in an attempt to compensate for the variability in demand and ensure the continuity of care. Today, new challenges concerning the security of the supply chains and possible relocations to Europe are arising. A Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS) technology specialist, the contract manufacturer. Unither is known for manufacturing sterile preservative-free unit doses atits French, American and Chinese sites. Ophthalmology, asthma and rhinology are the three main indications for the use of these unit doses. Another promising field is the stick-pack, a flexible single-dose sachet allowing for the stick filling of liquid products so that these latter may be taken orally or topically. A solution deployed at its sites in Colomiers, Rochester in the United States and Barretos in Brazil (780 million stick-packs per year ). The company is active in several self-medication markets: rhinology, cough and common cold, pain, the venous system, central nervous system (CNS) diseases. “There is the premise for a relaunch of rhinology applications, points out Simonne Farina, Self-Medication Market Manager at Unither. Some markets have stabilized, such as gastroenteritis, while on others, such as pain, the demand is high.” “As a CDMO, we support our customers with the transposition of their products, she continues. We also develop our own products, whether for pharmaceutical files and/ or marketing authorisations and medical devices. These “licensing-out ” files are offered turnkey with regulatory support, to facilitate international registrations.” They are prepared by the Innovation & Development Division, which works in close partnership with the various formulation and analytical departments of our production facilities or our R&D centre in Bordeaux. The last files undergoing reg istration are liquid paracetamol sticks for children and adults, she explains. A liquid form ibuprofen formulation in stick-pack is also being finalized.” In addition, Unither also focuses on its international growth to support its clients operating in the self-care sector from its sites in Rochester, Barretos and Nanjing (China).
