Trends in pharma packaging
Pallavi Choudhary finds that patient-centricity, eco-friendly, sustainable packaging, ease of production, child-resistant packaging, user-friendly packaging and tamper-evident packaging are some of the trends driving the pharma packaging sector, as she interacts with experts and leaders from the industry at PlastIndia 2023
Pharmaceutical packaging has come a long way in recent years. The industry constantly innovates to provide the most reliable and efficient packaging solutions, from automated assembly lines to shrink-wrap and other state-of-the-art technologies. The rise of new drug delivery systems, such as inhalers and patches, has changed how drugs are packaged and presented to consumers. As such, companies must stay on top of the latest trends in pharma packaging to remain competitive. In this post, we will explore some of the latest trends that are transforming the pharma packaging industry.
The pharma industry is constantly evolving and changing. As such, the packaging industry must also change and adapt to meet the needs of pharma companies. Some of the latest trends in pharma packaging include accessibility for patients, eco-friendly and sustainable packaging, ease of production, child-resistant packaging, user-friendly packaging, tamper-evident packaging, and more.
Different types of pharma packaging include blister packs, bottles, and capsules. Blister packs offer high protection for your product, are accessible to stores and transport, and can be easily opened and closed. However, they are less durable than other types of packaging, so you need to be careful with them. Bottles offer good protection for your product and are easy to store and transport, but they can be breakable, so you need to be careful with them. However, capsules offer good protection for your product, but they are not as easy to store or transport as other types of packaging.
This was all about what we felt about the trends in pharma packaging. To know more about this, our team connected with some of the top leaders in the pharma packaging industry at PlastIndia 2023 and in another way. Here are the comments from the leaders:
Responsible manufacturing is our key focus: UFlex Chemicals
While speaking to Rajesh Bhasin, Joint President – Chemical Business from UFlex Chemicals division at PlastIndia 2023, we learned about their plans of introducing inks for the pharma foils and narrow web labelling for pharma products. Bhasin said, “Being in the chemical division, we are concerned for our environment. Our focus is on responsible manufacturing, in which we are putting efforts into protecting the environment. We have controlled and managed pollution by reducing water consumption by almost 90 per cent and increasing production by four times. We have also been reducing hazardous waste in which our team tracks each and every operation.”
“Our manufacturing plant in Noida is a Zero Liquid Discharge Facility for water and environmental protection in which we reuse and recycle the wastewater efficiently. We promote water-based inks and ensure green products by reducing the solvent content,” he concluded.
Look for biodegradable packaging to reduce waste: Dr Boy
Germany-based Dr Boy is a specialist in liquid silicon applications, where it manufactures liquid silicone rubber baby nipples, catheters, urine catheters, and all the catheters which can be used for the heart. Talking about their presence in PlastIndia 2023 and the pharma sector, S Sundaram, CEO, Karan Engineering (Exclusive Agent of Dr Boy in India), said, “PlastIndia is the third largest show on plastics, and I am glad that it’s happening in New Delhi after a gap of 12 years. The northern region of India is a major market segment in medical applications, it has a huge contribution towards plastics. We have received huge inquiries for different applications in this show till now.”
“For trends in pharma packaging, I would say that the entire pharma packaging is working towards primary packaging, which includes disposable and film packaging, and secondary packaging, which includes corrugation box. The pharma packaging industry is evolving a lot, and plastics are playing a vital role. Many things like disposable syringes, hand gloves, saline, glucose, syrups, and more are packed in plastics, so we can’t replace the plastics. In 2023, we are planning to launch our own brand in India, in which we will introduce menstrual cups for female healthcare applications, some other catheters, and ventilator masks. As a machine manufacturer, our role is critical, and we are very concerned about sustainable packaging. We always have a role in offering technological solutions to packaging manufacturers. The future of pharma packaging in India looks very bright, and the reason behind this is the growing demand with the healthcare situation in India and the increasing population size. My suggestion to the people would be to look for an alternative kind of biodegradable packaging to reduce the waste,” he concluded.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle are key aspects of sustainable packaging: Manjushree Technopack
Recently in PlastIndia, our team met with Gaurav Luniya, Chief Business Officer, Manjushree Technopack, and discussed the trends in pharma packaging, for which he said, “Pharma segm