Syntegon Launches New Filling Machine for RTU Syringes
The company’s MLD Advanced uses a combination of proven technologies to enable manufacturers to quickly and efficiently meet the requirements of high outputs.
Equipment provider, Syntegon, has announced, in an April 14, 2025 press release, the introduction of its new filling machine for ready-to-use (RTU) nested syringes (1). According to the company, the MLD Advanced has been developed to help meet the increasing demands from pharmaceutical manufacturers for speed and efficiency in high filling outputs.
With 100 percent in-process control (IPC) and robotics, the MLD Advanced allows for flexible redosing while ensuring the product yield is optimized. “[For] high-value medicines, it is essential that each drop is filled and weighed optimally,” said Markus Burkert, Product Manager at Syntegon, in the company press release (1). “That's why we have combined the MLD platform, which was previously used primarily for cartridges and vials, with our technologies for syringe filling.”
Included in the new platform are automatic bag and tub openers, which enable automated, no-touch transfer for aseptic filling requirements. The Pharma Handling Unit allows for further automation as it denests the syringes without glass-to-glass contact and places the containers into the pitch adjustment station. After the syringes reach the pitch adjustment station, they are then moved into the machine pitch and placed where a unique clip system allows for smooth transportation, filling, and stoppering.
“This unique clip system is the first key feature we adopted for syringe applications from the cartridge line,” added Burkert, in the press release (1). “The special circulating transport system ensures smooth transportation and is therefore ideal for RTU syringes, as well as vials and cartridges.”
Prior to being moved to the filling station, empty syringes are weighed using 100 percent IPC. For filling and stoppering, the filling needles are mounted on the Pharma Handling Unit, allowing for flexible redosing if required. Precise control of the filling weight is managed as a result of the IPC.
“In addition to minimizing product loss, an important focus is on providing documented proof about the weighing of each container. This gives manufacturers the certainty that all containers have been filled correctly,” explained Klaus Ullherr, Senior Product Manager at Syntegon, in the press release (1).
Once the stoppers have been inserted, which is performed via vacuum or vent tube, the containers are moved by the circulating transport system and placed back into the nests by the Pharm Handling Unit.
The company presented a virtual launch of the MLD Advanced at Interphex 2025, which took place on April 1–3 at the Javits Center in New York (2). During the conference, the company also introduced its recent acquisition, Teslstar, through which Syntegon has expanded its portfolio with freeze-dryers. Furthermore, during Interphex, the company showcased other innovations, such as its new Settle Plate Changer for automated viable monitoring during sterile product filling, the AIM DIRect high-output denesting and renesting equipment for the inspection of RTU syringes, and the RMA assembly machine for small batches.
References
Syntegon. Syntegon Launches New MLD Advanced for RTU Syringes. Press Release, April 14, 2025.
Syntegon. Syntegon at Interphex: Seamless, Innovative, and Sustainable. Press Release, March 4, 2025.