Newark, NJ – Keystone Folding Box Co., a designer and manufacturer of paperboard packaging solutions, has introduced a f=1 version of its popular Key-Pak^® Child-Resistant blister card suitable for use with cold-form foil (Alu/Alu) blisters. As with the original Key-Pak^®, the solution achieves its category’s highest child resistance rating of F=1 while remaining easy to open for seniors and consumers with dexterity challenges.

Ideal for clinical trials, physicians’ samples and retail prescription pharmaceutical products, Key-Pak^® is the most widely used child-resistant medication packaging solution on the market. The customizable, cost-effective fold-over package provides highest-possible child resistance to each dose while earning outstanding marks for senior-friendliness. The new Alu-Alu version is particularly suitable for pharma products requiring high barrier protection, as well as delicate or friable oral solid dose products requiring a peel-back opening to prevent physical damage to tablets or capsules.

For pharma companies, among the issues making Key-Pak‘s new Alu-Alu iteration especially attractive are reports of longer-than-usual lead times to obtain some conventional blister packaging materials, especially polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and Aclar^® substrates.

Notably, as it is mostly paperboard, Key-Pak^® comprises up to 75% less plastic than bottles or amber vials. Its novel, back-side “zipper” design provides for safe, clean, simple removal of each dose, while its broad, flat surface gives ample room for usage instructions or drug information. Important for high-volume, efficiency-dependent pharma manufacturing settings, Key-Pak^® also features a single-component composition that streamlines production and leads to fewer specifications, inspections, assembly, graphics, engineering and necessary tooling.

The new Alu-Alu version of Key-Pak^® is already being used in several pharma packaging applications, with Keystone fielding inquiries from pharma companies and contract packagers both in the US and overseas.

“Introducing a proven f=1 cold-form, all-aluminum version of our Key-Pak^® blister card is a logical next step in the product’s evolution and series expansion, providing another option to an already customizable line of solutions,” said Ward Smith, Director of Marketing & Business Development at Keystone Folding Box Co. “Given the recent lead time challenges for traditional blister materials that some pharma companies and contract packagers are experiencing, the product’s timing also aligns with a defined market need.”