West Pharma bags India Packaging Award for its NovaGuard system

The safety system is a single-use accessory for prefilled ISO standard 1-ml staked-needle syringes.

Eric Resnick, vice-president and chief technology officer, innovation and technology at West, said, “We are honoured to receive this recognition for our NovaGuard SA Pro needle safety system, which is designed to help prevent accidental needle-stick injuries. Needle-stick injuries are a serious concern for healthcare practitioners. We have developed this system to help care providers with greater control and protection from potentially life-threatening exposure to harmful diseases when administering injections.” 

The NovaGuard SA Pro device has an FDA 510k clearance in the US and meets the European 2010/32/EU directive for the prevention of sharps injuries.

It can be deployed using a single-handed technique and was designed to prevent pre-activation during the handling of prefilled syringes (PFS).

The additional features of the safety device system include tamper resistant functionality, low syringe snap-in force for assembly with PFS and compatibility with standard plunger rods.

“The system is transparent for ease of drug extraction, inspection and delivery. The design facilitates easy assembly of glass prefilled syringes with minimal change parts and changes over time to existing assembly equipment for manufacturers,” added Resnick.

In addition to this achievement, the company announced a new product line extension to its AccelTRA component programme.

Resnick added, “The ready-to-sterilise and ready-to-use gamma sterilised AccelTRA Elastomer components will soon be available for customers requiring high-performing elastomer components for premium domestic needs or for export to the EU.”

The components will be available in 13-mm and 20-mm serum and lyo stopper configurations. The 20mm serum configuration is currently available for sampling and commercial orders; remaining configurations will be available in the coming months.