With the launch of the new crown virus vaccination work, topics such as the production capacity of vaccine glass bottles have attracted attention. There are remarks that my country's borosilicate glass is facing a "stuck neck" status quo.
Is the small vaccine bottle really "stuck"? What is the manufacturing capacity of medicinal glass in my country? Xinhua News Agency reporters interviewed relevant institutions, industry associations and production enterprises.
The important material behind the vaccine vial
The quality of medicines is inseparable from the packaging materials that are in direct contact with medicines. In order to avoid the interaction between the container and the vaccine, there is a lot of knowledge in the selection of vaccine bottle materials. Medium borosilicate glass, the important material behind this vaccine bottle, has gradually entered people's field of vision.
"The stronger the water resistance of the bottle body and the more stable the performance, the more reliable the quality of the vaccine inside the bottle." Li Jian, senior vice president of the investment department of SDIC Chuanghe Fund, said that medium borosilicate glass is resistant to acid and alkali corrosion Strong resistance to cold and heat shock, stable chemical properties, is the mainstream vaccine bottle material on the market.
Hu Wenyan, executive vice president of the China Biochemical Pharmaceutical Industry Association, said that my country's vaccine bottles are roughly divided into two types: vials and pre-filled seals. The former needs to be extracted with a syringe, and the latter is a combination of glass bottles and drug pushers. Direct injection, both are made of medium borosilicate glass.
The manufacturing process of medium-borosilicate glass is not simple. Not only is it difficult to shape, but the tube-drawing link of the control process has also become a manufacturing difficulty.
But being difficult doesn't mean you can't do it.
The reporter learned from research that from the early soda-lime glass, low borosilicate glass to medium borosilicate glass, my country's pharmaceutical glass industry has been continuously upgraded, and the technology of medium borosilicate glass has continued to mature. Some domestic enterprises have overcome the two processes of molding and control respectively, and some have realized the controllability of industrial links.
The road to Chinese manufacturing of borosilicate glass
"There are not many companies in the world that produce medium borosilicate glass, but Chinese companies are among them." Hu Wenyan said that compared with established pharmaceutical glass companies such as Schott and Corning, although Chinese companies entered relatively late, they also mastered the related technologies.
The reporter learned that the manufacturing process of medium borosilicate glass is mainly divided into molding and control. The former is usually made of glass liquid through a mold at one time, and the bottle made is thicker than the control process; the tube drawing link in the control process is to pull the glass liquid into a slender tube, which is particularly difficult. At present, there are not many companies in the world that have mastered the tube drawing technology .
China National Building Materials Kaisheng Junheng adopts all-oxygen electric boosting technology, and the No. 2 kiln has achieved stable mass production; Shandong Pharmaceutical Glass has made breakthroughs in molding technology; Chongqing Zhengchuan has built a medium borosilicate glass kiln... Many domestic companies have developed Lizhong borosilicate glass manufacturing, and achieved certain results.
Wang Huanyi, chairman of Cangzhou Four Star Glass, Hebei, chose the "cold roof full electric fusion technology". In order to break through this technology, he invested almost all of his net worth.
In 2005, faced with successive price increases of imported glass and delayed delivery, Wang Huan made up his mind to develop it by himself. Four-star glass has gone through countless cycles of building kilns, feeding materials, and igniting. "At one time, there was no money to pay the electricity bill." In the end, the enterprise overcomes the difficulties. At present, Four Star Glass has 4 pharmaceutical medium borosilicate glass tube furnaces and 12 tube drawing production lines.
In China, many enterprises are working in the field of medium-borosilicate glass, and have penetrated into the entire industrial chain.
According to the data of the professional version of Tianyancha, there are currently 23 medium-borosilicate-related companies in my country whose business scope includes "medium borosilicate and neutral borosilicate" and whose status is active, surviving, moving in, and moving out, and about half of them are established. within 3 years. There are more than 2,500 companies whose business scope includes "pharmaceutical packaging materials and containers, special equipment for glass production, and glass packaging containers" and whose status is active, surviving, moving in, and moving out.
In addition, focusing on the Chinese market, established pharmaceutical glass companies have also built factories in China one after another, becoming a link in the domestic industrial chain. For example, SCHOTT Glass Tube is building a borosilicate glass tube factory in Zhejiang. It is expected that in the first half of 2021, it will be able to provide samples for local customers in China for compliance certification and gradually realize local supply. The road to Chinese manufacturing of medium borosilicate glass is getting wider and wider.
It is necessary to persevere to strengthen the industry
Medium borosilicate glass can be made in China, but the path of Chinese enterprises has to be more solid and wider. Strengthening the industry requires the joint efforts of multiple parties and perseverance.
The market is a key part of it.
"Domestic products came out late, and brand awareness has a process." Hu Wenyan said that the particularity of drugs also makes the process of changing packaging more complicated. For example, it needs a process to go through a large number of complicated tests.
Li Jian believes that, on the one hand, the upgrade of drug quality standards, on the other hand, the increase in demand for vaccines and the launch of a series of new drugs will inevitably promote the upgrade of drug packaging materials; policies such as consistency evaluation will also promote the integration of my country's pharmaceutical packaging with international standards, and continue to The developed market will bring opportunities for domestic enterprises.
While developing the market, it is also crucial to strengthen R&D and innovation, intensify efforts to improve product quality, and continuously improve the industrial and supply chains.
"On the basis of realizing the production of medium-borosilicate glass, from 2017 to May 2020, we continued to carry out key core technological transformations." Wang Xiaoxuan, general manager of China National Building Materials Kaisheng Junheng Co., Ltd., said that 28 technologies were changed to No. 2 kiln Stable mass production and high-standard independent manufacturing have laid the foundation. At present, Kaisheng Junheng has signed contracts to build production bases in Qingdao, Chongqing, Nanchang, Zhenjiang and other places.
People in the industry believe that medium-borosilicate glass requires a large investment and high precision requirements. To manufacture a high-quality glass tube requires not only excellent material technology, but also sophisticated production equipment and quality control systems. manufacturing capacity considerations. Enterprises must be patient and persistent, and persevere in making breakthroughs in key areas.
Experts believe that the gradual replacement of low-borosilicate glass by medium-borosilicate glass is the general trend, and domestic enterprises will usher in opportunities. Continuous R&D and innovation, continuous improvement of the rigor of the process, etc., China's medium borosilicate glass industry will accelerate towards high quality.
