Gerresheimer AG’s Gx TELC tamper-evident luer lock safety seal combines the adapter and closure into a single component. [Image courtesy of Gerresheimer AG]
In the growing prefilled syringes market, the adapter for screwing in the needle and the syringe cap plays a key role when it comes to ensuring ease of use and reliable dosage, according to Covestro (Pittsburgh).
Gerresheimer AG’s Gx TELC tamper-evident luer lock safety seal combines the adapter and closure into a single component, simplifying the manufacturing process and boosting cost-effectiveness. It also improves ease of use because the person using the syringe only has to mount one connected part on the syringes.
There are also safety benefits because turning the cap to open the syringes releases tabs, according to Covestro. The tabs spread, and they prevent the cap from closing again. The result is that the syringe cannot be opened and closed unnoticed – providing evidence of tampering.
Covestro’s transparent high-heat polycarbonate helped Gerresheimer AG (Düsseldorf, Germany) create the new design because the polycarbonate has high heat resistance. It’s possible to sterilize it using conventional methods such as gamma rays or ethylene oxide.
“In addition, it is dimensionally stable and dimensionally accurate at high temperatures, so that the entire component does not warp after hot steam sterilization at 143 °C, for example. As a result, the closure for opening the syringe remains defined in every situation and enables an easy screwing in of the tube,” Wenzel Novak, global senior director business development at Gerresheimer, said in a news release.
The plastic also has high impact strength, protecting the adapter from damage during impacts.
The Gx TELC system includes an adapter and a closure produced in a two-component injection molding process as a hard-soft combination. First, the manufacturer molds the adapter from copolycarbonate. Then it injection molds the cap from a thermoplastic elastomer.
“The hard thermoplastic and the soft elastomer parts bind strongly to each other. There is no adhesive required, so there are no chemical reactions that could cause increased torque,” said Martin Doebler, medical technology specialist at Covestro.
