Ribavirin

Christine Sheehy, Senior Vice President of Operations at 3 Rivers Pharmaceuticals talks about her experiences working with the Pharma Packaging Solutions team on the Ribavirin project.

A mid-major pharmaceutical company has the same imperatives as larger companies in the industry:

Flexibility

“Two critical components for our packaging needs are cost and flexibility. Our previous packager would say, ‘You have to package 20,000 bottles or we can’t do this.’ At PPS they say, ‘We’ll package whatever, whenever.’  They’ll accommodate any request and therefore make the cost of our products less expensive.“

Responsiveness

“We were looking for a partner who could be responsive and flexible to our packaging needs. We had been packaging our product at the manufacturer, but they were packaging in mass quantities, so there were all kinds of issues, including possible delays. Because PPS specializes in what they do, they could be much more flexible, even if it was smaller runs, and of course, there were cost savings with that. They were able to handle what we needed.”

Affordable

“The biggest thing was price. It’s a generic product in a competitive market, so we were looking to reduce cost and, of course, still maintain a quality product.”

Pharma Packaging Solutions is a partner you can trust.

“They have a very customer-focused attitude and are very responsive. You can get the president on the phone if you need to. They have a ‘reach out and touch’  feel about them versus other companies that are so huge that you just feel like you’re a small fish in a big pond.

“We chose them not only because they offered us a very competitive price, but because we also recognized they are dedicated to the success of our business. When we were looking at them, they flew in their entire team to meet us - their ops guy, their quality guy, everyone who would assure us that they would make us feel like one of their most important customers.

“In terms of reliability and attention to detail, they have been able to support our production needs by reacting to very short lead time requests. They get it done. That’s something I feel very confident about. They’re reliable.”

Working with Pharma Packaging Solutions provides the results that cut our costs and help keep us competitive.

“Communication is excellent and a lot of that has to do with their team. They’re very, very responsive. I’d say (I would rate their communications as) a 10. We have all their cell phone numbers [laughing]. Sometimes their sales person will drive all the way out here to take us to lunch just to catch up. We even get handwritten notes from the president, and they’re personalized. They let us know that we’re appreciated, and we like that."

Pharma Packaging Solutions helps us sell more of our products…

“The service they provide helps us to provide a consistent supply. You never want the out-of-stock situation, and we’ve seen that with some of our competitors. But because PPS is flexible, we don’t overbuild our inventory. They saved us money because now we can maintain our supply competitively.