Parcel Health Receives Its First U.S. Patent for the Tully Tube

On August 4, 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted our first patent for the Tully Tube, U.S. Patent 12,698,138, "Cylindrical Container and Dispenser." The patent contains 11 claims. This is our first patent on the Tully Tube. We're actively patenting the engineering behind it, and we have several additional applications moving through the pipeline.

What the Patent Covers

Co-inventors Mallory Walsh Barrett, Melinda Su-En Lee and Alex Nunes Barrette engineered the Tully Tube to meet clinical, regulatory, and operational requirements, making it a viable replacement for amber plastic pill bottles. This utility patent covers two elements: the locking adapter and the paper-based assembled container.

How the Adapter Locks

Paper tubes conventionally need glue at the closure. We designed the Tully Tube to eliminate the need for it. The patent's central element is the transition region, a curved section of the adapter wall that runs continuously around the full circumference and presses outward against the inside of the paper tube. That outward force is what holds the adapter in place without adhesive. Some Tully Tube versions add side buttons on top of it for extra grip, but those are optional and not part of every version.

Easy Disassembly for Recycling

A strip of webbing detaches along perforation lines, and once it's gone, the adapter no longer has the structural integrity to stay in the tube. That's what releases the locking adapter from the paper body, separating the two for recycling. Instructions and a QR code are printed under each tube, so patients can do it themselves in seconds.

The Tully Tube

The Tully Tube is made up of three parts: the universal cap, the locking adapter, and the paper body. We've put the Tully Tube through weight and heat testing.

Weight Performance: The cylindrical body supports loads over 30 pounds and holds up through 6-foot drop tests, the kind of stress a bottle takes in transit and on a pharmacy shelf.

Thermal Performance: The patent does claim a performance range for temperature control: a rise 10 to 20 degrees less than the concurrent rise in ambient temperature. In our own testing, the Tully Tube's internal temperature rose about 12°F less than a plastic tube and about 18°F less than ambient, while plastic ran only about 6°F below ambient. GLP-1 formulations and other temperature-sensitive medications depend on the stability needed for medication packaging.

The Universal Cap: In the patent, the adapter's threaded portion interlocks with "a protective cap." The protective cap is our universal reversible child-resistant cap that flips between child-resistant and easy-open, fits every Tully Tube size, and ships as one SKU. 

The Parcel Coat™: The Tully Tube is made from paper-based packaging, and Parcel Coat enhances the insulation properties of that paper, helping maintain the required temperature range for medications in transit. Parcel Coat strengthens the Tully Tube, making it resistant to wear and tear, even in humid or extreme conditions. The Tully Tube is also lighter than plastic, which reduces shipping costs without giving up performance.

Custom branding is available, giving partners like Good Life Med, UPMC, and the Pharmacy Hub a way to put their brand on the bottle so patients see and remember it.

The Impact on Your Pharmacy

Using paper-based bottles instead of plastic cuts the impact before a prescription delivers.The Tully Tube uses up to 71% less plastic than a conventional amber bottle and can cut pharmacy's carbon emissions by 30%. Pharmacies fill hundreds or thousands of prescriptions a day, and that reduction compounds into tons of plastic avoided every year.

The patented locking adapter separates from the paper body, something patients can do simply at home. With the Tully Tube, we engineered a bottle that cuts plastic at every stage, from production through the patient's hands. That's the experience Wellstar's pilot shows, 71% preferred paper packaging over plastic, and 79% backed the switch for environmental reasons. When they see your pharmacy's brand on a bottle they recycle, that preference turns into loyalty.

Our Next Move 

We're continuing our mission to eliminate plastics from pharmaceutical packaging supply chains, and this patent protects part of how the Tully Tube gets there. More locations will begin dispensing the Tully Tube soon, and we'll share the details as they're confirmed.

Want to see the Tully Tube in your pharmacy? Request a custom mockup.

Behind the Scenes

Our CXO sent over a cake with the patent printed on it, and it took a little tour from the office to Mallory's house to Melinda's house! 

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