Chemineau develops new nasal spray production line with Flexicon filling system

• Watson-Marlow’s Flexicon filling system has been chosen for use by the French drug development and manufacturing laboratory Chemineau
• The system will be used to aid the development of a new production line of nasal sprays
• Flexicon PD12P was chosen for its dispensing accuracy, reliability, and ease of integration

Chemineau, a subsidiary of the ANJAC Health & Beauty group, is a French laboratory specialising in the development and manufacturing of drugs, cosmetic products and medical devices. With over a century of recognition for its outsourcing capabilities, Chemineau manufactures a variety of health products, and takes pride in the flexibility and diversity of its production facilities. This allows Chemineau to produce thousands of tonnes of medical and cosmetic products each year.

Developing the new production line

Chemineau offers a diverse range of packaged products, made possible by the high adaptability and of its single-product and multiple-product production lines. After experiencing rapid growth of its line of nasal sprays, Chemineau set out to create a new production line equipped with a quick filling system to allow fast product changeover. This new production line, designed to produce 6 million vials of product per year, requires a vial filling time of no more than 0.8 seconds and a dispensing accuracy repeatable to within 1%.

Accurate and scalable filling solution

To meet the required flow rates and precision of Chemineau’s new production line, Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions (WMFTS) proposed the use of three Flexicon PD12P peristaltic filling systems. Flexicon’s high filling precision of ± 0.5% was a key aspect of its appeal to Chemineau. The three Flexicon units were integrated into Chemineau’s system with the ability to run simultaneously or individually. The system is also easily scalable, giving Chemineau the option to integrate further units for future expansion.

“As flexibility and scalability were key for Chemineau, the use of multiple PD12P filling systems proved to be an ideal solution. Flexicon equipment is known for its filling accuracy so the team can be confident that the systems will deliver the precision required,” commented Jonathan Dutour, Biopharm Sales Engineer, WMFTS.

Fast integration, easy to use

The control interface features functional and user-friendly software with a choice of four languages and an easy-to-read LCD display. This master controller can perform automatic recalibration and can connect to a printer to allow ease of data-logging.

The dispensing accuracy and speed meet all of the client’s requirements. Mr. Massé, from the Engineering department at Laboratoires Chemineau, states: “Fast development was our goal, so the ease of integration of the Watson Marlow Flexicon filling units, with its controller interface display, was a big selling point for us.”

Reputation for quality and reliability

“The sterile single-use Accusil tubing was also a choice well-suited to the evolution of our process”, explains Mr. Massé. WMFTS uses highly durable parts to minimise wear and the team were able to validate that its Accusil tubing did not experience any premature wear from the circulation of abrasive seawater used in production. WMFTS offers validation and 100% traceability on parts, with laser-etched part numbers, lot numbers and use-by-dates.

“Some of our production lines are already equipped with Watson-Marlow pumps but, first and foremost, it is their reputation for quality and reliability that motivated our request”, concludes Mr. Massé.