Inside the covid-19 vials?
As the COVID-19 vaccination campaign gets underway, the production capacity of glass vaccine bottles has raised concerns. It is said that borosilicate glass in our country is facing the "neck" situation.
Is a tiny vaccine vial really stuck in your neck? How does medicinal glass make ability of our country? Xinhua News Agency reporters interviewed relevant institutions, industry associations and manufacturers.
The essential material behind the vaccine vials
The quality of drugs cannot be separated from the packaging materials that come into direct contact with the drugs. In order to avoid the interaction between the container and the vaccine, there is a great deal of knowledge in the selection of vaccine vials. Borosilicate glass, the key material behind vaccine vials, is coming into view.
"The more water resistant and stable the bottle, the more reliable the quality of the vaccine inside." Li Jian, senior vice president of investment department of SDIC, said that borosilicate glass is a mainstream vaccine vial material in the market due to its acid and alkali resistance, strong resistance to hot and cold impact, and stable chemical properties.
Hu Wenyan, executive vice president of the China Biochemical Pharmaceutical Industry Association, said that China's vaccine vials are roughly divided into two types: injection vials, which are drawn with a syringe, and prepotting vials, which are a combination of glass bottles and drug push-rods that can be injected directly. Both are made of borosilicate glass.
The manufacturing process of borosilicate glass is not simple. It is not only difficult to form, but also difficult to draw pipe in the control process.
But just because it's hard doesn't mean it can't be done.
From early sodium-calcium glass, low-borosilicate glass to medium borosilicate glass, Chinese medicinal glass industry is constantly upgrading, medium borosilicate glass technology is becoming mature. Some domestic enterprises have conquered the two processes of molding and control respectively, and some have achieved controllable industrial links.
The road to Chinese manufacture of borosilicate glass
"There are only a few companies producing borosilicate glass in the world, but Chinese companies are among them." Hu Wenyan said that compared with established pharmaceutical glass companies such as Short and Corning, although Chinese companies entered relatively late, they also mastered relevant technologies.
Reporters learned that the borosilicate glass manufacturing process is mainly divided into mold, tube bottle. The former is usually glass liquid through a mold molding, make the bottle relatively control process is thicker; It is particularly difficult to pull the glass liquid into a long and thin tube in the pipe drawing process of the control process. At present, there are not many enterprises in the world that master the pipe drawing technology.
China Building Materials Kaisheng Junheng adopts the whole oxygen electric melting technology, 2 kiln to achieve stable mass production; Shandong pharmaceutical glass made a breakthrough in molding technology; Chongqing Zhengchuan built borosilicate glass kiln...... Many domestic enterprises have made efforts to manufacture borosilicate glass and have made some achievements.
Wang Huanyi, chairman of Hebei Cangzhou Sixing Glass Co., LTD., chose the "cold-top full electric fusion technology". In order to break through this technology, he invested almost all his wealth.
In 2005, faced with rising prices of imported glass and delayed delivery, Wang decided to develop his own. Build kiln, feed, ignition, four star glass experience countless times of the cycle, "once even pay the electricity money is not". Finally, enterprises overcome the difficulties. At present, Sixing Glass has 4 medicinal borosilicate glass tube kilns, 12 pipe drawing production lines.
At home, many enterprises in the borosilicate glass field, and to the whole industry chain penetration.
According to the data of Tianyan Research Professional Edition, there are 23 borosilicon related enterprises with "medium borosilicon and neutral borosilicon" in China, and the status is in business, existing, moving in or moving out, about half of which were established within 3 years. There are more than 2500 enterprises whose business scope includes "pharmaceutical packaging materials and containers, special equipment for glass production, glass packaging containers", and their status is in business, existing, moving in or moving out.
In addition, focusing on the Chinese market, old pharmaceutical glass enterprises have also built factories in China, becoming a part of the domestic industrial chain. For example, Schott Glass Pipe is building a borosilicate glass pipe factory in Zhejiang Province. It is expected to provide samples for local customers in China for compliance certification and gradually realize local supply in the first half of 2021 from this factory. The manufacture of borosilicate glass in China is getting wider and wider.
Strengthening the industry still needs perseverance
Borosilicate glass can be made in China, but Chinese enterprises have to go further and further. To strengthen the industry, we need to work together and persevere.
The market is a key link.
"Domestic products come out later, and brand recognition has a process." 'The special nature of the drug also makes the process of changing the packaging more complicated, such as going through a lot of complex tests, which requires a process,' Mr. Hu said.
Li Jian believes that, on the one hand, drug quality standards have been upgraded, on the other hand, the demand for vaccines has increased and a series of new drugs have been launched, which will inevitably promote the upgrade of drug packaging materials. Consistency evaluation and other policies will promote Chinese medicine packaging and international standards, and the continuous development of the market will bring opportunities for domestic enterprises.
At the same time, it is also crucial to strengthen research and development and innovation, increase efforts to improve product quality, and constantly improve the industrial chain and supply chain.
"Based on the realization of borosilicate glass production, from 2017 to May 2020, we continue to carry out key core technology transformation." Wang Xiaoxuan, general manager of China Building Materials Kaisheng Junheng Co., LTD., said that 28 technical changes have laid the foundation for the stable mass production of No.2 kiln and the realization of high standard independent manufacturing. At present, Kaisheng Junheng in Qingdao, Chongqing, Nanchang, Zhenjiang and other places signed the construction of production bases.
Insiders believe that the investment of borosilicate glass is large and the precision requirements are high. To make a high-quality glass tube, it not only requires excellent material technology, but also precise production equipment, quality control system and so on. It is the consideration of the comprehensive manufacturing capacity of the enterprise. Enterprises should have patience and perseverance to make breakthroughs in key areas.
Experts believe that the gradual replacement of borosilicate glass low borosilicate glass is the general trend, domestic enterprises will usher in opportunities. China's borosilicate glass industry will accelerate towards high quality through continuous R&D and innovation, and continuous improvement of the rigor of the process.
