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Management Forum

An Introduction to Pharmaceutical Packaging Training Course

This course provides an essential overview of pharmaceutical packaging and will be valuable for newcomers to this field. It will also act as a good refresher for those with more experience.

★★★★★ "Really enjoyed it. Thought it was well presented and clearly explained by Chris. I would recommend t... more (11)"

30 September-2 October 2025 »
from £1599

Need help? Enrol/reserve

Format: Live online
CPD: 12 hours for your records
Certificate of completion

Course overview

Gain crucial insights into the unique issues and challenges of pharmaceutical packaging to ensure product safety, compliance, and market success.

Effective packaging of pharmaceutical and healthcare products is critical not only for maintaining product integrity and safety but also for regulatory compliance and market acceptance. Packaging serves multiple functions beyond containment, including protection from environmental factors, ensuring product stability, and providing essential information to healthcare providers and patients. Understanding the intricacies of pharmaceutical packaging is vital for professionals involves in drug development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs, quality control, and logistics.

This introductory course is designed to equip delegates with a foundational understanding of pharmaceutical product packaging. It begins with a comprehensive regulatory overview, ensuring participants grasp the essential requirements and compliance standards governing pharmaceutical packaging. The programme also delves into crucial topics such as the selection of packaging materials, considerations for compatibility and stability (including ICH testing and extractables/leachables studies), and the role of packaging in new product development.

Additional topics include:

Pharmaceutical packaging formats and materials available - advantages and applications
Trade and transit requirements
Environmental considerations
Artwork design essentials
Specialised areas - child-resistant closures and tamper-evident packaging

By the end of the course, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the key aspects of pharmaceutical packaging, enabling them to contribute effectively to the successful packaging of pharmaceutical packaging, enabling them to contribute effectively to the successful packaging of pharmaceutical products within their organisations.

This course is part of our GxP training (Good x Practice) course collection, which features a variety of topic areas to ensure you comply with the most recent quality guidelines.

Benefits of attending

Gain a useful insight into packaging component and material selection
Learn key properties of various packaging materials/systems
Appreciate pack testing and evaluation
Better understand packaging component specifications
Hear about printing processes and controls
Acquire knowledge on artwork generation and control
Ensure that you comply with the regulatory requirements
Learn about transit packaging
Consider trade/supply chain requirements

Who should attend?

Whether you are new to the industry, have a basic understanding of pharmaceutical packaging or are more familiar with the area but looking for a refresher, this course will provide you with valuable knowledge and insights from an expert who has worked in the field for more than 25 years.

Those who would benefit from attending include:

Account managers
Artwork producers
Auditors
Business developers
Clinical trial suppliers
Logistics personnel
Packaging design/labelling personnel
Project managers
Purchasers
Quality assurance and control personnel
Regulatory personnel
Suppliers to the industry
Technical writers

Enrol/reserve

This course will cover:

NPD process

The role of pharmaceutical packaging

Regulatory and GMP Requirements

Agencies, guidelines and legislation
Dossier requirements
International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH)
Common Technical Document (CTD)
Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC)
Differences between submissions in the EU and
USA
- Bar coding (briefly) – EAN, 2D – datamatrix, QR
- Counterfeiting and product security
- Drug Quality and Security Act
- Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD)

Product security and emerging pharma legislation

Choice of pharmaceutical packaging

Compatibility and ICH testing
Testing and evaluation
- Extractables and leachables

Pack testing and evaluation - ICH

ICH testing

Stability testing
Functionality testing

Special climatic conditions

Secondary and tertiary packaging materials Part 1

Print processes
Labels

Special aspects of pharmaceutical packaging

ICH testing continued.

Extraction/migration studies
Leachables, Extractables & Toxicological Issues
Case Study
The EU Perspective
The FDA Perspective: USP <661>

Key properties of various primary packaging materials Part 1

Glass
Plastics (part 1)

Primary packaging materials Part 2

Plastics (part 2)

Primary packaging materials Part 3

Plastics (part 3)
Sachets
Blisters
Tubes

Primary packaging materials Part 4

Closures
Active packaging
Aerosols

Secondary and tertiary packaging materials Part 2

Leaflets
Cartons
Trade/supply chain requirements
Specifications
Environment and sustainability

Trade / transit requirements

Interactive session (Case study: group exercise & feedback)

Takeaway and key messages

Enrol/reserve

Chris Penfold
Design Cognition

Chris Penfold is an experienced Freelance Packaging Development Specialist and Consultant; a self-motivated, achievement oriented, confident and creative leader with a proven track record in general and technical management. He is a packaging professional with over 25 years packaging development and NPD experience working on £million-brands in the OTC, healthcare and Rx pharma arenas for ‘blue-chip’ multinational companies such as Glaxo (GSK), CIBA (Novartis), Boots Healthcare and Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare.

He is an MBA graduate and Chartered Marketer with extensive cross-functional experience in a broad spectrum of related disciplines, including marketing, supply chain, QC and production. An ‘International Player’ with experience working in various European countries, Middle East, North America and extended business trips to the Far East. Underpinned by proven interpersonal skills, the ability to make things happen and experience gained from independent international consultancy projects and running his own business, Design Cognition Ltd.

More details

NEW higher discounts for multiple bookings - bring your colleagues to make your training budget go further:

30% off the 2nd delegate*
40% off the 3rd delegate*
50% off the 4th delegate*

Please contact us for pricing if you are interested in booking 5 or more delegates

30 September-2 October 2025

Live online

09:00-16:45 UK (London) (UTC+01)
10:00-17:45 Paris (UTC+02)
04:00-11:45 New York (UTC-04)
Course code 14945

GBP 1,599 1,899
EUR 2,239 2,659
USD 2,571 3,039

Until 26 Aug

3 days live online training
Browser-based, no download usually required
See presenters and interact with fellow attendees
Download documentation and certification of completion
Fair transfer and cancellation policy

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Not ready to book yet?

for 7 days, no obligation

* Early booking discounts may not be combined with other discounts or offers. As such, the discounts for 2nd/3rd/4th delegates are based on the full price; and apply only when booking multiple delegates on the same date.

Reviews of IPI's An Introduction to Pharmaceutical Packaging training course

Really good. Very thorough. Well constructed in a way that allows the presentation to be used as a reference doc later. The speaker was excellent.

May 20 2024

David Bellars United Kingdom
Supply Chain Manager, Cycle Pharmaceuticals Ltd

Jan 31 2023

Really enjoyed it. Thought it was well presented and clearly explained by Chris. I would recommend this course to others. Good pace and the information was clearly delivered.

Andy Borg-Myatt United Kingdom
Artwork Specialist, Kyowa Kirin International

Jan 31 2023

Very informative course with lots of training material

Sanna Sutinen Finland
Specialist, Quality Systems, FinVector Oy

Jan 31 2023

Webinar was very good and informative. It gave a very good overall regulatory summary and the fact that the group was small enabled to participate and ask direct live questions during the course of the agenda, which was for me very helpful.

Orit Shahaf Israel
Director, Regulatory Affairs, Taro Pharmaceutical Industries

Sep 28 2021

Job well done and beyond expectations. Would highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn anything about packaging. Documentation was outstanding and extremely helpful and amazingly well described.

Angela Turner United States of America
RA Director,

Sep 28 2021

Overall I quite enjoyed the webinar. Everything was thoughtful and easy to perceive. Particularly I liked the part when speaker introduced with the requirements of registration purposes in United States and compared with EU regulations.

Alise Spakevica Latvia
AS Kalceks

Sep 26 2018

Chris was friendly, approachable he has a wealth of knowledge and was happy to answer any questions. The course was very informative, its given me an insight into Regulatory overview and New Product developments and requirements of materials. Happy with the file given which can be referred back to if needed.

Lisa Hughes United Kingdom
Data & Artwork Implementation Administrator, Norgine Ltd

Apr 25 2018

Everything was excellent.

Iva Kapetanovic Serbia
Associate in Quality Management Department , ALIMS (Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of Serbia)

Apr 25 2018

All compliments. The course was very interesting and covered a lot of topics in this area.

Milan Milojevic Serbia
Associate in Licensing Department for Human Medicines, ALIMS (Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of Serbia)

Sep 26 2018

I enjoyed this course, I felt it delivered on its content and would recommend to a colleague. I think the speaker was knowledgeable in his field and facilitated open and interesting discussions throughout the course which meant people were comfortable to ask questions...

Becky Greenan United Kingdom
Senior Manager , Vectura Ltd

Apr 25 2018

Good informative slides covering the whole process.

Leah Frederiksen United Kingdom
Regulatory Affairs Compliance Officer, Martindale Pharma

United Kingdom