Pharmaceutical Industry Dynamics

The pharmaceutical industry is growing at a rapid pace in emerging economies. Advanced manufacturing processes, technological innovations, and increased integration of companies have resulted in rapid growth of the industry. This growth of the pharmaceutical industry is driving the pharmaceutical aluminum ointment  tube packaging market.

 

Restraint:

Increasing overall packaging costs owing to dynamic regulatory policies

Pharmaceutical packaging continues to increase in demand with the growth of the pharmaceutical Industry. However, its growth is likely to be hampered by the high cost of manufacturing. Owing to the need for longer shelf-life and to comply to stringent safety standards set by regulators such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMA), and Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA),  packaging suppliers have to put more effort  to streamline their manufacturing process and produce error-free packaging products. These stakeholders have to add value, adhere to rules, and ensure regulatory compliance. The type and design of packaging material are also influenced by market conditions and strictly regulated by a number of regulatory policies.

Pharmaceutical packaging is designed to protect the drug from environmental conditions, mechanical damage, and natural and human hazards. At the same time, it is required to be child and leakage proof. Meeting all these requirements involve high costs in production of pharmaceutical packaging. Thus, with increasing complexity in designing pharmaceutical packaging, companies are compelled to use high-cost machinery and technology to create efficient packaging solutions.

 

Opportunity:

Growing demand for primary pharmaceutical packaging

Primary pharmaceutical packaging are products which come in direct contact with the medicine or drug. They generally include plastic bottles, glass bottles, pre-filled syringes, pre-filled inhalers, medication tubes, blister packaging, and others. The major contributors to the growth of this segment are pre-fillable syringes and pre-fillable inhalers. Plastic bottles, blister packs, and ampoules & vials are also some of the primary pharmaceutical packaging that are growing rapidly. Advancements in biotechnology, leading to the introduction of new injectable parenteral therapies, and increased demand for high visibility unit dosage packaging for diseases such as diabetes will drive the primary packaging segment. Growth of the inhalers segment is expected to be supported by rising number of chronic asthma, allergy, and migraine patients treated with inhalation drugs. In addition, rise of advanced and diverse drug producing companies in developed economies such as the US, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, and the UK will drive the growth for primary packaging. Furthermore, India, Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Argentina, and China are expected to become some of the fastest growing markets owing to rapidly expanding pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities and adoption of more stringent regulations intended at improving the quality and reliability of domestically produced drugs.

 

Challenge:

Safeguarding against counterfeit products

Counterfeit or falsified pharmaceutical products has been an important concern for pharmaceutical manufacturers. In 2017, 25.0 million illicit and counterfeit drugs were seized by Interpol. Delay in approval of new drugs and their packaging due to the long product development cycles and costs are resulting in the increased availability of counterfeit drugs and fake packaging. These counterfeit products have negative effects on the human body, in terms of allergic reactions, nausea, vomiting, and others. Anti-malarials and antibiotics are among the most commonly counterfeited medical products. The WHO is constantly taking initiatives against counterfeiters by setting new standards for drug packaging. All activities related to drug serialization that evolve in different countries are backed by global initiatives managed by the WHO. The governments of developed and developing economies are implementing stringent legislations such as the US Code 2320 for tracking counterfeit products and related acts to prevent counterfeiting of pharmaceutical products. New technologies such as induction seals, near-field communication (NFC) tags, and blockchain will further boost counterfeit protection and enable proper distribution. However, counterfeiters usually crack these systems in two-three years. This issue mandates complex and expensive upgradations by pharmaceutical packaging companies on regular basis. Hence, fighting counterfeiting of products is a major challenge for pharmaceutical packaging companies.

 

 

Author

 Nick Jacobs is a marketing and content specialist at Xinrontube with a primary focus on Marketing and Business Development. Being a true humanist, he draws inspiration from the simple things as everyday life and the matters one come across on a daily basis doing his best and above to help everyone around.