May 2008 Editor's Picks: Watson-Marlow Flexicon and HealthStar

Watson-Marlow Flexicon
Aseptic filler offers universal design
Watson-Marlow Flexicon's (Burlington, VT) "FPC50" universal filler, designed for injectable drugs, is now available with a restricted-access barrier system (RABS). The RABS incorporates filters that provide unidirectional airflow over the aseptic filling area.

Peter Lambert, the company's filling division manager, says a version of the filler is also available with a biosafety cabinet for processing potent drugs such as vaccines and cytotoxics.

A stable walking-beam mechanism enables fast changeover of vial sizes. Users don't need to order different format parts for the system, Lambert says. The compact machine's universal sorting bowl accepts all standard plugs and caps. The unit's peristaltic technology and disposable fluid path allow rapid product changeover. The device fills vial capacities from 2 to 100 mL and performs small to medium-size production runs.

HealthStar
Unit fills quickly and accurately
HealthStar (Braintree, MA) offers its "Purefil 1000" walking-beam flow-meter filler, which is adapted for clean filling environments in the pharmaceutical industry. The in-line machine fills as many as 300 containers/min. The device handles container sizes from small vials to 1-L units.

HealthStar designs and manufactures the filler's nozzles in house. Various nozzles are available to handle foamy, watery, and viscous products. The device incorporates magnetic flow meters that measure and disperse product. The meters ensure a filling accuracy of 0.25%. In addition, a sensor confirms the presence of a container before filling.

The filler is completely servo-driven and features programmable logic control. Operators can program as many as 32 different batches into the machine. The filler can be cleaned in place, and changeover can be accomplished in 20–30 min.