The company’s cost-effective Eagle-LP Blister Machine is also suitable for clinical trials and small-scale startup production.

Norwell, MA – Maruho Hatsujyo Innovations (MHI) – the U.S. subsidiary of Maruho Hatsujyo Kogyo Co. Ltd, a Japanese company with subsidiaries in Asia and the U.S. will showcase a blister machine specifically intended for stability testing and similar small-run applications at Pack Expo Las Vegas Booth SL-6808, September 11-13, 2023. The Eagle-LP – short for “Lab Pack” – joins the company’s extensive blister packaging equipment family as a reliable, cost-effective solution for development stages, stability testing and initial small-batch production.

The Eagle-LP addresses two longstanding challenges in early-stage blister packaging: affordability and floorspace. Many pharma manufacturers have faced challenges finding blister units for stability testing, clinical trials and small batch runs that aren’t onerously expensive and unnecessarily lengthy or bulky. The modestly priced Eagle-LP measures just 1.8 meters in both length and height, and just .9 meters in width.

Importantly, the Eagle-LP also is designed to accommodate a newer generation of more sustainable blister film substrates – ones that are typically more difficult to form and seal. The unit can easily accommodate PVC, PVDC, PET, ACLAR, ALU and PP.

The Eagle-LP can run up to 20 cycles per minute, with a blister format area of 110 X 60mm and a maximum blister depth of 20mm. It can handle forming materials up to 320mm in diameter, and lidding materials up to 220mm in diameter. The unit is capable of both thermoforming and cold foil forming.

“Researcher and product development professionals can benefit significantly from a blister machine designed specifically to suit their needs,” said Harry Yonenaga, President of the Medical Packaging Machinery Division for Maruho Hatsujyo Innovations, and a project leader for the Eagle-LP’s development. “Too often, early-stage teams are left choosing among inadequate options, including purchasing large, expensive equipment or interrupting mass production machinery, which limits output capacity elsewhere. The Eagle-LP gives R&D the special considerations it deserves.”