Technical Details of SCHOTT Reagent Blister

Reagent Blisters are an advanced solution designed to simplify workflows, enhance reagent stability, and optimize diagnostic consumables. Leveraging high-barrier materials and precision manufacturing, this technology ensures reagents remain stable over extended periods, even in challenging environments. It provides controlled reagent release through integrated frangible seals or piercing mechanisms, reducing the risk of contamination and enabling consistent results.
Backed by SCHOTT MINIFAB’s expertise, this technology supports seamless scaling from prototyping to mass production, ensuring your consumables meet both performance and commercial objectives.

SCHOTT MINIFAB has in-house, scalable, automated form-fill-seal-shear capability to manufacture reagent blisters in ISO7 equivalent facility. The capability is suited to supply hundreds to millions of blister per annum. Our standard format tooling expedites development. Full customization of volume and shape can be provided if required.
SCHOTT MINIFAB_Purpose built pilot line
High-Precision Manufacturing: SCHOTT MINIFAB’s automated production line ensures consistent quality in Reagent Blister fabrication.

Blister technology: Engineered for precision and performance

Chemical compatibility

Designed with advanced materials, our blisters ensure compatibility with a wide range of reagents, from enzymes and buffers to alcohol-based solutions, maintaining reagent integrity and preventing degradation.

Scalable supply

Whether you need hundreds or millions of units, our scalable production processes deliver consistent quality, enabling seamless transitions from prototyping to high-volume manufacturing.

Microfluidic integration

Precision-engineered blisters are tailored to fit microfluidic devices, enabling controlled reagent release and flawless integration with advanced diagnostic systems.

Shelf life

High-barrier materials and innovative sealing technologies safeguard reagents for up to 24 months, ensuring reliable performance even in challenging storage conditions.

Compatible reagents

1: Enzymes - applied in diverse biological and chemical reactions.

2: Buffers - Lysis Buffers facilitate cell lysis and nucleic acid extraction. Wash Buffers aid in cleaning and preparing samples.

3: Chemical Reagents - Staining Solutions support cell and tissue analysis, while Solvents assist in sample preparation and processing.

4: Detection Reagents - Fluorescent Dyes enable assays for detecting specific molecules and Chemiluminescent Substrates are used for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs)

5: Antibodies and Antigens - employed in diagnostic and research applications to detect and measure target molucules.

SCHOTT Reagent Blister - Compatible Reagents Blister Textimage Module

Don't see your reagent?

Talk to our team about our previous experience and what we can offer to derisk your integration. The sampling process takes 2 weeks from reagent receipt on our site to shipping of blisters to your site.

Proven shelf life: A case study in blister reagent storage and functionality

This accelerated stability data gives confidence in the reliability of SCHOTT Reagent Blister technology for IVD applications. By demonstrating proven performance over 2.7 years of accelerated testing, we highlight the durability, functionality, and long-term consistency of our reagent packaging solution—key factors in successful diagnostic product development.

Proven Shelf Life

Data has shown chromogenic reagents stored within SCHOTT MINIFAB blisters on a consumable IVD remained functional and exceeded acceptance criteria after 2.7 years in accelerated stability study.

Blisters showed no evidence of common failure modes such as fluid loss, degredation of blister material or degredation of reagent at the final time point.

The solution: Blister reagent storage

Technical Data             
Shelf life Up to 24 months (reagent dependent)   Filling accuracy  ≈ 0.3%
Chemical compatibility Market leading chemical compatibility (reagent dependent)   Production SCHOTT MINIFAB Melbourne site
Materials High gas barrier chemical and biologically compatible material   Reagent preparation In house reagent preparation and management team
Volumes (empty) 72 - 2400ul (see standard blisters for details). Custom development available   Supply chain and logistics In house Supply Chain and Logistics team
Cost Price dependent on reagent (consituent and volume), supply volumes,
QC/QC requirements, standard or custom offering, foil materials
  Sampling process

Timeline - ≈ 2 weeks (from receipt of reagent arrival to shipping)

Output - 50 sample blisters of single reagent"

Quality assurance Inline 100% mass and visual QC
Leak testing, force gauge, vision systems
  Sampling cost $5k USD (assuming reagent is free issue)
Quality control Aging studies, functional assays, various analytical studies
(e.g. HPLC, mass spec, flow cytometry)
  Production timeline ≈ 8 weeks (pending product and project review)
Scalability  100s to millions per annum   Production cost Provided on review of product requirements

Want to know more? Let's talk

Whether you need more information, samples, a quote, or advice for a project, I would be delighted to talk to you.

Dieter Cronauer

Dieter Cronauer

Accelerate your innovations

Discover the full capabilities of SCHOTT MINIFAB as your global partner in contract design, development, and manufacturing for life science research and diagnostic consumables.