COP vial is a new breakthrough in pharmaceutical packaging

In pharmaceutical packaging, COP is a new and breakthough raw material. There are two examples of plastic polymers in the class of polyolefin compounds, which can be used for primary packaging components and permit the long-term storage of a liquid drug product. One is cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), a copolymer of a sixmember cyclic carbon hydride with polyethylene.The other is cyclic olefin polymer (COP), a polymer based on a five-member cyclic carbon hydride polymerised by metathesis reaction. Superior properties compared to polyethylene or polypropylene are high transparency, low level of organic extractables – being typical for plastics – and no extractable metal ions. The question is why these plastic compounds have not yet conquered the sector of primary packaging for parenterals? 

COP vials

The reasons for this lack of universal use include limited experience in the environment of the regulated pharmaceutical industry and long drug development times. In contrast, the Japanese pharma market has already been using parenteral plastic vials and syringes produced from COP for many years now. Another is cost pressure because high quality polymers like COC and COP are rather expensive compared to glass. Finally, there is a difference in the processing of plastic vials on standard glass vial filling lines because they cannot be introduced using the conventional method via the traditional depyrogenisation oven.