Aptar Expands Its Advanced Eye Care Portfolio with Innovative Delivery Technologies Designed to Improve Precision, Safety, and Patient Experience
AptarGroup, a global leader in drug delivery, dispensing, and protection technologies for pharmaceutical, consumer healthcare, and personal care markets, has unveiled an overview of its expanding portfolio of eye care solutions. These solutions are designed to address evolving patient needs, improve dosing accuracy, and enhance overall treatment experiences across prescription and over-the-counter ophthalmic applications.
At the center of Aptar’s latest advancements is Beat the Blink™, a novel eye care delivery system engineered to improve dosing precision by addressing one of the most common challenges in eye drop administration—the involuntary blink reflex. This newest technology is currently part of an exclusive development partnership with Bausch + Lomb, a leading global eye health company, and represents Aptar’s continued commitment to innovation in ophthalmic drug delivery.
With more than 500 market references worldwide, Aptar’s ophthalmic delivery systems are widely recognized as a trusted platform for safe, precise, and patient-friendly eye care solutions. The company’s growing portfolio reflects its strong focus on preservative-free multidose technologies, regulatory compliance, microbiological safety, and patient usability.
Addressing Unmet Needs in Eye Care Delivery
Administering eye drops may seem simple, but for many patients it is a frequent source of frustration, discomfort, and dosing error. Issues such as blinking, head tilting, poor hand-eye coordination, and fear of contact with the bottle tip can lead to missed doses, inaccurate administration, and reduced adherence to prescribed therapies.
Aptar’s eye care solutions are designed to address these challenges head-on. By combining human-centered design, mechanical protection technologies, and pharmaceutical-grade engineering, the company aims to deliver eye care systems that improve both treatment outcomes and patient confidence.
One of the most significant trends shaping ophthalmic drug delivery is the growing demand for preservative-free formulations. While preservatives help protect formulations from microbial contamination, they may also contribute to eye irritation or discomfort, particularly for patients with chronic conditions requiring long-term treatment. As a result, preservative-free multidose (PFMD) systems are increasingly preferred for topical ophthalmic therapies.
Ensuring microbiological integrity in PFMD systems is critical, and Aptar has developed a robust portfolio of delivery technologies designed to maintain product safety without relying on chemical preservatives.
Beat the Blink Redefining Eye Drop Administration
Beat the Blink is Aptar’s newest eye care delivery innovation, created to improve dosing precision and enhance patient comfort by “beating” the natural blink reflex. Traditional eye drop administration typically requires patients to tilt their heads backward and dispense a drop vertically into the eye. This method can be uncomfortable and often leads to inaccurate targeting, particularly for elderly patients or those with limited mobility.
Beat the Blink™ introduces a horizontal drop delivery system, allowing patients to administer eye drops without tilting their heads. By delivering the formulation from a side-facing orientation, the system reduces the likelihood of blinking at the moment of administration and helps ensure that the intended dose reaches the ocular surface.
This approach addresses a clear unmet need in eye care: improving the consumer and patient experience while maintaining precise and consistent dosing.
Key features of the Beat the Blink™ system include:
- Horizontal drop delivery, designed to minimize blinking and targeting errors
- Tip-seal protection, enabling compatibility with preservative-free formulations
- New bottle and ventilation design, supporting consistent dose delivery
- Microbial safety measures, ensuring formulation integrity throughout product use
- Child-resistant features, enhancing safety in household environments
- Regulatory- and quality-focused design, intended to support global ophthalmic standards
The technology is currently under development as part of an exclusive partnership with Bausch + Lomb. Commercial availability is expected following the successful completion of development and industrialization activities, with an estimated timeline of 24 to 36 months.
Ophthalmic Squeeze Dispenser: A Proven Preservative-Free Multidose Solution
Aptar’s Ophthalmic Squeeze Dispenser (OSD) is one of the company’s most established and widely adopted eye care delivery systems. Recognized as a leading preservative-free multidose eye dropper worldwide, the OSD is built around Aptar’s patented Tip-Seal technology, which provides microbiological protection through purely mechanical means.
Unlike systems that rely on preservatives, silver ions, or surface coatings, the Ophthalmic Squeeze Dispenser maintains product integrity using a mechanical valve that seals the tip after each use. This design helps prevent contamination while allowing patients to safely use preservative-free formulations.
The Tip-Seal technology has undergone extensive microbial challenge testing that simulates relevant in-use scenarios. While final customer formulations require additional testing, Aptar supports pharmaceutical partners by providing comprehensive data packages and validated test methods. These resources are designed to assist customers in preparing regulatory dossiers for finished ophthalmic products.
The OSD’s proven performance, patient-friendly design, and preservative-free compatibility make it a cornerstone of Aptar’s ophthalmic portfolio.
Advanced Preservative Free (APF) Technology: Expanding PF Solutions Across Applications
Aptar’s Advanced Preservative Free (APF) and Advanced Preservative Free PLUS systems extend preservative-free dispensing technology beyond eye care into nasal, dermal, and oral applications. These innovative spray dispensing systems provide microbiological protection and formulation stability using purely mechanical means, eliminating the need for preservatives while ensuring product safety.
A key advantage of the APF platform is its metal-free fluid path, which supports compatibility with sensitive formulations and aligns with growing sustainability expectations. The APF Futurity™ system, part of Aptar’s broader sustainability strategy, is recognized as the first metal-free, all-plastic multidose nasal spray system to be rated as highly recyclable by cyclos-HTP.
Although APF systems are used across multiple healthcare applications, their relevance to eye care lies in their shared design philosophy: combining patient safety, formulation protection, and environmental responsibility.
Digital Healthcare Solutions: Supporting Connected Eye Care
In addition to physical drug delivery systems, Aptar offers a broad range of digital healthcare solutions designed to support disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. These technologies include tools for patient monitoring, adherence tracking, and healthcare management.
Aptar’s digital healthcare solutions for eye care are developed with a strong focus on usability and patient engagement. They are designed to be intuitive, easy to use, and adaptable to different care models. Solutions can be deployed as fully integrated platforms or as extensions that complement existing drug delivery systems.
By integrating digital tools with physical delivery devices, Aptar aims to support improved adherence, better data collection, and more personalized care pathways in ophthalmology.
A Partnership-Driven Approach to Innovation
Aptar’s success in eye care innovation is driven by its strong research and development capabilities, customer-centric mindset, and collaborative partnership approach. The company works closely with pharmaceutical and healthcare partners to develop customized solutions that address evolving regulatory requirements, patient needs, and market expectations.
“Our extensive R&D capabilities, new systems development and customizable solutions allow us to offer a leading range of eye care solutions designed to improve dosing precision and enhance the patient and consumer experience,” said Gael Touya, President of Aptar Pharma. “Our partnership approach and suite of services help our customers meet evolving needs in eye care and navigate the challenges associated with developing both prescription and over-the-counter treatments.”
About Aptar
Aptar is a global leader in drug delivery and consumer product, dispensing, dosing and protection technologies. Aptar serves a number of attractive end markets including pharmaceutical, beauty, food, beverage, personal care and home care. Using market expertise, proprietary design, engineering and science to create innovative solutions for many of the world’s leading brands, Aptar in turn makes a meaningful difference in the lives, looks, health and homes of millions of patients and consumers around the world. Aptar is headquartered in Crystal Lake, Illinois and has over 13,000 dedicated employees in 20 countries. For more information, visit www.aptar.com.
