Woodstock Sterile Solutions is investing $8m in a new automated, high-speed bottle packaging line at its facility in Woodstock, Illinois, US, to enhance its blow-fill-seal (BFS) capabilities.
The new bottle packaging line is expected to boost manufacturing efficiency at the site, bringing in advanced features that will enable the company to package bottles with inline serialisation at a speed of 250-300 packages per minute.
The new ‘Serpa’ line will be capable of handling 5ml and 10ml oval and round multidose bottles.
The company anticipates completing the installation of the new bottle packaging line in 2025, with packaging operations set to begin in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026.
Upon completion, this investment is expected to increase the facility’s packaging capacity by around 85 million units.
Leveraging Woodstock’s established BFS technology, the primary containers are moulded, aseptically filled, and sealed within seconds via a continuous automated process, the company said.
Woodstock Sterile Solutions added the new system offers sterility assurance and minimises the risk of contamination.
Furthermore, Woodstock’s BFS technology enables customised container designs, supporting a wide variety of finished product types.
Woodstock Sterile Solutions CEO Nick Buschur said: “There is currently a lack of CDMO [contract development and manufacturing organisation] capacity for BFS manufacturing in the US.
“This limited access is creating challenges for drug manufacturers, as rising production costs and supply chain inefficiencies hinder their ability to obtain domestically supplied, yet affordable BFS manufacturing services.
“Our investment will help to address this gap as we offer more cost-effective manufacturing and packaging solutions to current and future customers.”
