McKesson teams up with U.K. firm to expand Rx compliance packaging

SAN FRANCISCO McKesson Corp.’s pharmaceutical packaging division, McKesson RxPak has teamed up with Burgopak Ltd., a major packaging innovator in the United Kingdom, to bring Burgopak’s pharmaceutical compliance packaging to the United States.

Burgopak has won awards for its packaging, which employs a patented design that presents the product in a sliding tray or blister pack to make it simple for patients to access the medicines and control their dosages. According to recent studies, McKesson noted, unit-dose blister packaging and other innovations can improve refill and adherence rates by 15 percent to 30 percent.

“McKesson RxPak is proud to be the first U.S. packaging company to provide Burgopak’s award-winning compliance packaging to pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare consumers in the United States,” said Kirk Kaminsky, senior vice president of McKesson’s U.S. pharmaceutical packaging operations. The new licensing agreement with Burgopak, he said, can address “many of the reasons why consumers are noncompliant when it comes to taking their medication.”

According to McKesson spokesperson Sara Hentz, U.K.-based Burgopak will also provide McKesson RxPak with “the first state-of-the-art, automated Burgopak manufacturing machine, which is capable of producing more than 20 million units a year.

“This machine will permit McKesson to speed time-to-market and lower costs for its customers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and pharmacies,” Hentz noted.