PCI adds to serialization-ready contract packaging resources

PCI Pharma Services announced the acquisition of Millmount, a Dublin, Ireland packager, only in November, and now says the site has been equipped with state-of-the-art serialization technology. According to a company statement, the installation delivers machine and human-readable coding, tamper-evident solutions and Bollini labeling (Bollini labels are used in Italy). In turn, the serialized labeling is linked to a case loading and aggregation station, with a final aggregation station connecting cases to pallet. “PCI is a strong supporter of the advanced use of aggregation to realize the significant benefits in packaging operations, as well as the broader pharmaceutical supply chain,” it says.

Arguably, there isn’t a component of global serialization capability that PCI is not installing. The Millmount installation is specifically for compliance with the EU Falsified Medicines Directive, which requires labeling by February 2019. The company has also implemented a global supply network, which ostensibly enables packaging runs with coordinated serial numbers from sites around the world—something that many multinational pharma companies are challenged to do within their own networks.

A few weeks earlier, PCI announced the acquisition of Pharmaceutical Packaging Professionals, a Melbourne, Australia contract packager for clinical trial materials. That acquisition is the company’s fifth outside the US in five years. PCI now has 19 facilities in the US, Europe and (with PPP) Asia, with over 3,200 employees.