Henan Daily Client Reporter Yang Zhitian Correspondent Zhang Jiajing

How valuable can a small glass tube be? The medicinal glass bottle containing vaccines is not an ordinary glass bottle. For a long time, China only had vaccines, no bottles, and could only rely on imports. And a company in Anyang is currently able to provide raw materials for vaccine bottles - medium borosilicate medicinal glass tubes.

We have broken through foreign technological monopolies through long-term technological breakthroughs, allowing our province's borosilicate medicinal glass to move from relying on imports to independent research and development. "On July 19th, at the" Three New "Industrial Park in Long'an District, Anyang City, Wan Zhigang, director of the R&D center and project leader of Henan Ancai High Tech Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as" Ancai High Tech "), said that the company has broken through the core technical difficulties of borosilicate medicinal glass, We have the ability to mass produce borosilicate medicinal glass tubes and will collaborate with multiple pharmaceutical companies.

Breaking Foreign Technology Monopoly

What are the "outstanding features" of borosilicate medicinal glass in China?

Borosilicate glass is globally recognized as the highest quality material for medicinal glass, relying on its strong resistance to extreme cold and heat, high mechanical strength, and good chemical stability. At the same time, it is not prone to "detachment" caused by drug immersion and erosion, and has incomparable advantages in ensuring drug quality compared to other pharmaceutical glass bottles.

According to the statistics of the China Pharmaceutical Packaging Association, it is expected that by 2025, the global annual demand for borosilicate medicinal glass tubes will be 500000 tons, while China will need 200000 tons (currently only 50000 tons of production). The size of China's pharmaceutical packaging market in 2022 is 149.03 billion yuan, of which the pharmaceutical glass market accounts for 16.5% of the overall size of the pharmaceutical packaging market, approximately 24.6 billion yuan. Among them, most of the borosilicate medicinal glass relies on imports, making it difficult for independent mass production.

In 2022, Ancai High Tech self raised funds to launch the China Borosilicate Medicinal Glass Project. The project covers an area of 186 acres, with a total investment of 480 million yuan in the first phase of the project. It will construct two glass kilns and four tube pulling production lines for borosilicate medicinal glass. The glass furnace adopts full oxygen combustion and electric melting assistance, with imported core equipment and platinum material direct heating technology for the glass channel. The Dana process is used for molding, and the product quality meets European, American, and national standards. The environmental protection can meet ultra-low emission requirements, achieving a breakthrough and yield improvement of medium boron silicon medicinal glass, breaking the monopoly of the foreign medium boron silicon medicinal glass market.

Product independent innovation and research and development

Due to two reasons: manufacturing technology and high production standards, it is difficult for medium boron silicon medicinal glass to start in China. "Wan Zhigang said, on the one hand, the" bottleneck "technology is difficult to break through and lacks financial and technical support: the solute clarification process of glass is very delicate and difficult, and the glass contains boron and aluminum, which is prone to layering during the clarification process, resulting in a significant reduction in glass quality and a significant increase in waste rate; On the other hand, due to the accumulation of long-term manufacturing experience in foreign countries, the dimensional accuracy of borosilicate medicinal glass is strictly controlled, greatly increasing its manufacturing threshold.

Wan Zhigang candidly stated that taking vaccine bottles as an example, this technology was once monopolized by companies in Germany, the United States, and Japan. The material formula, firing temperature, tube drawing process, and finished product testing are all mysteries: glass does not melt when the temperature is low, and boron elements will evaporate when the temperature is too high; If there is an error in the size of the hair thread in the caliber of the finished product, the entire vaccine filling production line will stop running.

Breaking through the "bottleneck" technology requires self-reliance. In the technological breakthrough of borosilicate medicinal glass, the first step is to produce high-quality glass. In order to combat glass defects, melting engineers need to endure high temperatures of over 1000 degrees Celsius, observe the flame combustion status, adjust bubbling technology measures, and observe the flow state of glass liquid. After several months of testing, the company has finally produced high-quality glass liquid without defects. Good glass requires good tube drawing process control. During the process of introducing tube drawing equipment, the project team, together with foreign technical personnel, carried out dozens of equipment renovations, ultimately achieving mass production of borosilicate medicinal glass tubes.

Assist in the development of the pharmaceutical industry in our province

As a major pharmaceutical province, Henan has numerous pharmaceutical enterprises in various cities and has a vast market for borosilicate medicinal glass.

Previously, the Long'an District Committee and Government of Anyang City provided strong support in factory construction and approval procedures, reducing the investment burden on enterprises and allowing them to invest more energy in project construction and operation. Ancai High Tech has a deep technical accumulation in the research and development of glass materials, process control of glass kilns, and has experienced industrial workers, which provides a good technical foundation for Ancai High Tech to enter the high-end pharmaceutical glass industry. While introducing advanced production equipment from abroad, we have incorporated some of our own research and development achievements into the equipment selection and manufacturing design process, filling the gap in the province's medium boron silicon medicinal glass.

The relevant person in charge of the provincial government stated that the research and development of borosilicate medicinal glass by Ancai High Tech has injected new impetus into the biopharmaceutical industry in Henan Province, effectively enhancing the competitiveness and influence of our province in the field of biopharmaceuticals, promoting Henan to accelerate from a "pharmaceutical province" to a "pharmaceutical strong province", and assisting the leapfrog growth of our province's biopharmaceutical industry.

The company will take this opportunity to increase its technological research and innovation efforts, and provide technical support for the upgrading and upgrading of the high value-added technology glass industry. Wan Zhigang said that in the next step, Ancai High Technology will continue to deepen its efforts in the pharmaceutical glass industry, further promote the localization of borosilicate medicinal glass tubes, reduce the cost of medication for domestic residents, and ensure national drug safety