Behind the Scenes of the Government Securing Vaccine Syringe Suppliers

Punglim Pharmatech with Minimum Dose Syringe Volume (LDS 4μL) Technology
Production Increased 2.5 Times through Smart Factory Establishment

Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, is holding a briefing on the "2020 Small Business Export Trends and Characteristics" at the Joint Briefing Room of the Seoul Government Complex on the 19th, while unveiling a COVID-19 vaccine syringe. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Punglim Pharmatech, a manufacturer and importer of medical devices such as syringes, has reached a new turning point after 40 years since its founding. Although the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has been an unfortunate event for humanity, new technologies and companies are emerging in the process of overcoming this hardship.

Medical device manufacturers such as Punglim Pharmatech, Korea Vaccine, and Seongsim Medical have recently established smart factories and set up mass production systems for COVID-19 vaccine syringes. This outcome reflects the government’s determination and thorough planning not to repeat the mistakes that caused public anxiety during the early mask shortage crisis at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, combined with the win-win spirit and technology of the world-class company Samsung Electronics, and the steadfastness of small and medium-sized medical device manufacturers who have walked a single path for decades.

With the support of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Samsung Electronics’ win-win smart factory initiative, Punglim Pharmatech recently established a mass production system for COVID-19 vaccine syringes applying the minimum dead space (LDS 4μL) technology. While general syringes can only inject up to 5 doses per COVID-19 vaccine vial, this syringe enables more than 6 doses per vial, effectively increasing COVID-19 vaccine production by 20% during use.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ process of building the vaccine syringe smart factory resembled a 007 operation. The ministry secretly promoted the project to prevent panic buying and was tense about any rumors leaking. Punglim Pharmatech, the only domestic syringe manufacturer possessing minimum dead space technology, was early selected as a candidate for smart factory construction.

Once again, Samsung Electronics stepped in. From December 24 last year, Samsung Electronics deployed about 30 experts to support the dissemination of Punglim Pharmatech’s win-win smart factory. With Samsung’s support in mold injection technology, Punglim Pharmatech was able to complete prototype mold production and manufacturing in just four days during the year-end holiday period. The manufacturing line, which previously produced 4 million units per month, transformed into a mass production system capable of producing over 10 million units per month.

During last year’s mask shortage crisis, Samsung Electronics also dispatched experts to small and medium enterprises to support smart factory construction. Samsung’s experts transferred manufacturing process improvements and technical know-how to increase production volume in a short period using existing facilities. The same impact was seen in COVID-19 diagnostic kit companies.

On the 15th, Punglim Pharmatech received domestic approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for the use of vaccine syringes and needles. Along with domestic technology and design patent applications, international patent applications are underway in the United States, Europe, and other regions.

Based on this case, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to expand the dissemination of smart factories in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. Currently, smart factory construction is being promoted for seven syringe companies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.