Beyond the Bottle: Opportunities and Challenges in Pharmaceutical Packaging
Like many other industries, pharmaceuticals is going through a transition, and as we have seen before, industries in transition offer opportunities for those who are willing to learn and engage. Why would a print services or packaging provider find this of interest? In 2020 the pharma packaging market was valued at USD 73.49 billion and is estimated to reach a value of USD 118.01 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 8.24%, during the forecast period of 2021-2026. The North American pharma packaging growth during the period of 2020-2025 is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.3%, according to Mordor Intelligence.
What is driving the growth?
There are many factors, including shifting consumer behavior, rising disposable income, increased focus on health, increased life expectancy and growth in emerging markets.
StartUS Insights looked at the top 10 Pharma Industry trends, and while most of these center around the introduction of real-time data and AI, combined, the effects will drive the overall growth of pharma packaging and in shorter runs, which mirrors general CPG drivers and shifts.
Mass customized packaging
Pharma packaging includes primary, secondary and tertiary packaging solutions that provide identification, protection and reliability of the enclosed drug.
- Primary packaging can include blisters, bottles, caps and closures, labels, pouches, strip packs, jars, etc. Substrate variants of plastics and polymers such as polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene and polystyrene are widely used for manufacturing various pharmaceutical packaging products.
- Secondary packaging includes paperboard boxes, instruction and safety documentation, and even temperature-controlled packaging with unique substrate characteristics.
- Tertiary packaging, which is used for packaging multiple or sets of products, is primarily corrugated and shrink wrap. Of course, labels can be found in all three tiers.
Is the technology available?
This is all being done today with analog and even some digital printing technology, but primarily in larger quantities since that has been the historic need. With the transition, the need for shorter runs is increasing, and digital print technologies will play a more important role. Targeted marketing can bring added value and margins, so shorter runs with a tremendous amount of versioning is becoming more prevalent, especially in over-the-counter products. The old one- or two-color boxes are starting to move to more graphically rich design, as is the case with many other consumer products.
As I have covered in other articles around digital print and food packaging compliance, many of the same challenges and rules exist for pharma packaging. Compatibility of inks and substrates, pre-treating media, ink component migration and barrier lamination are all possible requirements based on the specifics of the packaging and product. Tear resistance for child safety is another feature that is increasingly important, and sustainable packaging solutions are becoming an important focus of many pharma companies, just as it is with CPGs.
While the bulk of pharma packaging today is being done with offset and flexo printing technologies, as the runs get shorter and turn around quicker, digital print will play a more significant role. Currently the majority of digital printing for pharma packaging is being produced by electrophotographic printing, primarily using Indigo and Xeikon technologies. Additionally, we are seeing an increase in folding cartons as the sheet size and media handling have increased in solutions from Xerox, Ricoh and recently Canon. However, we are starting to see inkjet solutions enter the market as well, as they address the media and ink compatibility issues. There have been a number of new introductions from Memjet OEMs, adoption and expansion of Prosper and Ultrastream solutions from Kodak, and folding carton production from the Fujifilm J Press to name a few.
Of course, packaging is more than just printing, it also includes finishing/converting. Digital embellishment technologies like that of MGI, Scodix and others are being used for increasing brand identity and marketing value. Digital die cutting solutions from Highcon for short run folding carton and corrugated applications, and SEI for those as well as flexible and other types of packaging are also facilitating these new demands.
Tangible opportunities are there for converters and PSPs.
The market is growing and will continue to for the foreseeable future. The growth is across a wide variety of products and will be driven by increasingly short run and quick-turn products. In addition, lack of in-house packaging capabilities, expertise and budget constraint issues are faced by small pharmaceutical companies in the industry. Packaging service providers are recognized as an effective approach to address such issues of the small companies owing to the low-cost service offering.
The equipment to support this is already available, in some cases even in your facility, and any production obstacles are being address by the press, ink and substrate manufacturers, since they want to capture the benefits as well.
—– Source: https://www.printingnews.com