Apparatus and method for vacuum sealing pharmaceuticals into containers

A method within a sterilizable chamber for sealing a pharmaceutical fluid into a plurality of containers with a corresponding plurality of closures, the method characterized by:

• transferring into an isolator that is in spatial communication with the chamber via a sealable portal, the plurality of containers held in a container nest and the corresponding plurality of closures held in a closure nest;
• establishing within both the chamber and the isolator an aseptic condition;
• in the isolator under the aseptic condition filling the plurality of containers with the pharmaceutical fluid;
• transferring into the chamber the container nest holding the pharmaceutical-filled containers and the closure nest holding the corresponding closures;
• disposing within the chamber the closure nest above the container nest such that every container to be sealed is aligned and/or located concentrically below a corresponding closure;
• vacuum-tight sealing the chamber by means of the portal;
• reducing an air pressure in the chamber to a predetermined level to create a vacuum condition;
• mechanically engaging the plurality of containers with the corresponding closures under the vacuum condition by forcing the container nest vertically upward;
• opposing any vertical upward motion of any one of the plurality of containers after the engaging by establishing contact between the closure nest and a closure nest restraining element disposed on an opposing side of the closure nest from the container nest;
• and
• increasing the air pressure in the chamber to force the plurality of closures deeper into the corresponding plurality of containers to establish physical contact between the closures and the pharmaceutical fluid.