Tablets, ALU-ALU, dry syrups and dispo packs: reading a pharma product list
UNOS Biotech 2 min read
On a pharma price list, 10X10 means ten strips of ten units. Blister packs use plastic and foil; ALU-ALU uses aluminium on both sides for better moisture protection at a higher cost; strip packs seal units between foil layers. Dry syrups are powders reconstituted with water because the antibiotic is unstable in solution. Dispo packs include a disposable syringe with the injection.
The packing column of a pharma price list looks like code — "10X10 (ALU)", "6X15(ALU-ALU)", "2ML DISPO PACK". It is not decoration; it determines cost, shelf life and how the product sells.
Reading the notation
10X10 means ten strips of ten units, so 100 units per box. 10X1X10 means ten cartons, each containing one strip of ten — a mono-carton presentation, more expensive to pack but better presented at the counter and harder to split.
Blister, ALU-ALU and strip
Blister packs a tablet between a formed plastic base and an aluminium lid. You can see the tablet. It is the cheapest of the three.
ALU-ALU uses aluminium on both sides. You cannot see the tablet, but moisture and light ingress is much lower — which matters for hygroscopic or light-sensitive molecules and in humid markets. It costs more, and a product moved from blister to ALU-ALU will carry a higher rate for exactly this reason.
Strip packing seals the unit between two layers of foil or laminate, sealed on all four sides. Common for older, high-volume products.
Liquids: syrup, suspension and dry syrup
A syrup is a solution — the drug is dissolved. A suspension has the drug dispersed as fine particles, which is why the label says shake well. A dry syrup is supplied as a powder and reconstituted with water at the point of dispensing, because the drug — usually an antibiotic such as amoxycillin–clavulanate or cefpodoxime — is not stable in water for long. That is why dry syrups carry short use-after-reconstitution periods.
Injectables
A vial is a sealed glass container, often holding a powder for reconstitution. An ampoule is a sealed glass unit snapped open at the neck, single use. A dispo pack supplies the injection together with a disposable syringe, which is why it commands a higher rate than the same volume in an ampoule.
Why this matters commercially
When you compare two quotes on the same molecule, check the packing before the rate. Blister against ALU-ALU on the same composition is not a like-for-like comparison, and neither is a 10×10 against a 10×1×10.