Novartis and Lilly share the HCPC Compliance Package of the Year award

Compliance packaging—often blister cards with oral doses in individual compartments—are a vital part of both physician’s samples and of “calendarized” dosages that require a certain sequence of pill-taking over a week or month. The Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council (HCPC), an industry group, has a promoted compliance packaging not just for these applications but also for improving adherence to therapy, which in turn is becoming a more vital part of overall healthcare. To that end, HCPC gives an annual award for the Compliance Package of the Year, and this year there are shared winners: Novartis’ Kisqali (ribociclib) and Lilly’s Verzenio (abemaciclib); both happen to be for metastatic breast cancer.

And both of those products, as well as the first runner-up, Synergy Pharmaceuticals – Trulance (plecanatide) and the second runner-up, Merck’s Prevymis (letermovir), rely on patented DosePak technology from Westrock. That design features a wallet-type carton with a tab on an inner surface that releases the blister card. This approach navigates the twin problems of being patient-friendly (easy to open) and child-resistant (keeping the medication away from curious children). Versatility is demonstrated by the various dosing regimens of the medications, from multiple times daily to one per day.

“Packaging is the one tool that stays with the patient throughout the medication journey, making it uniquely effective in providing regimen support,” noted Dave Dwyer, VP, Global Marketing - Adherence, WestRock.