Meet Janssen Cilag SpA – 2019 FOYA Equipment Innovation Category Winner
Janssen Cilag SpA is the 2019 ISPE Facility of the Year Category Winner for Equipment Innovation for their Dosepak Equipment project in Latina, Italy.
Projects selected in the Equipment Innovation category demonstrate the novel application of commercially available and custom developed process manufacturing and facility management tools, which yielded superior results, advanced processing understanding, improved competitive position, and imaginative collaboration with vendors/suppliers/manufacturers.
The Janssen–Cilag Spa production site of Latina, Italy is a Centre of Excellence for solid oral products and is where currently all new solid oral products of Janssen Supply chain are launched. Located on the outskirts of the town of Latina approximately 70 Km south of Rome, the site was built between 1982 and 1983, and has since been repeatedly enlarged and renovated. Today, the Janssen–Cilag production site of Latina counts approximately 700 employees, has a facility foot print of 497,368 sf and is capable of formulating and packaging tablets and capsules in blisters, bottles and wallets.
Knowing that the new products’ requirements are rapidly changing passing from the standard blisters and bottles to more complex packaging, Janssen Latina had already started to develop and introduce new revolutionary machines to gain a high level of flexibility and the ability to produce the wider range of packaging required by the market.
The new packaging requirements range from wallet for calendarization to Child-Resistant solutions for blisters and smart packaging able to connect with a smartphone.
The Dosepak Equipment integrates multiple innovative functionalities into one pioneering machine. These functionalities are:
- Automatic production of Dosepak and standard wallets.
- Automatic production of finished goods with I-Smart technology.
- Flexibility to process different products on the same equipment.
- Capability to process a wide range of blisters and wallet dimensions.
The equipment is capable to process any type of rectangular shaped blister independently from tablet/capsule sizes and shapes, forming material and lidding foil used. All critical parameters can be adjusted to any kind of product and the production can be changed from Dosepak to standard blisters with a simple change over.
The main outstanding feature of the Dosepak equipment is the combination of multiple tasks in one unique machine, including the steps needed to produce an I-Smart product. In the current standard production, a Dosepak is realized in multiple steps using different equipment and production phases and if I-Smart is required, two additional manual steps are required for verification and activation of the electronic circuit.
The Dosepak equipment allows the realization of Dosepak, standard wallet and I-Smart finished goods into one unique production process.
The project is the result of a cooperation of the Janssen Latina Site Engineering Department with C.Matic s.r.l. and ECCT B.V. resulting in the design, installation and qualification of a state-of-the-art equipment that integrates advanced robotics and automations into standard packaging process steps. It is an equipment that makes Janssen Latina ready to launch new products with innovative packaging, while keeping production processes lean, flexible and sustainable.
Behind the significant industrial and business impact of this project there are social aspects that cannot be considered of lower importance. Dosepak will protect children from involuntary poisoning, wallet and calendarized packaging have additional printed information to simplify the therapy for the patient, I-Smart will increase patient adherence to the medication.
ISPE congratulates the Janssen Cilag team for their achievements and their Facility of the Year Award award winning entry for Equipment Innovation. Learn more about the 2019 Facility of the Year Award Equipment Innovation Category winner.
Has your company recently designed, built or renovated a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical or biotechnology facility that is best in its class? ISPE is now accepting entries into the 2020 ISPE Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) Program, and your facility may be eligible to apply. Learn more about the Facility of the Year Awards submission process and your company could be the next Facility of the Year Awards Category winner.
Facility of the Year Awards Banquet
Join ISPE and prominent industry leaders as we recognize the 2019 Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) Category Winners for their innovation and creativity in pharmaceutical and biotechnology facility design, construction, and operation, at the FOYA Banquet on the evening of Sunday, 27 October 2019 in Las Vegas, NV during the 2019 ISPE Annual Meeting and Expo.
