A method and apparatus are disclosed for transferring and filling a viscous material from a container into a syringe while preventing the ingress of gas into the viscous material during the process of filling the syringe with the viscous material, but without requiring a housing for holding both the container and the syringe in an air-tight manner. The method includes inserting a plunger into the container that holds the viscous material and inserting a first plug, which permits gas flow in one direction, into the syringe. Then, the container is coupled to the syringe, a rod is inserted into the syringe such that the rod engages with the first plug, and the plunger is pushed within the container, thereby extruding the viscous material from the container. As a result, the extruded viscous material is transferred into the syringe and the syringe is filled with the viscous material.