Currently, the global pharmaceutical packaging industry is witnessing a spurt in growth. The demand is steadily on the rise and is growing at the rate of 4.3 per cent per annum. The figure is estimated to touch US$22.2 billion in the year 2007. The largest drug producing countries: United States, Japan, Germany, France, China, the United Kingdom, Italy and Switzerland share more than 80 per cent of the pharmaceutical packaging market.
The US is the largest consumer of pharmaceutical packaging. It is likely to remain so as the country's advanced proprietary drug producing sector introduces new sophisticated preparations with specialized storage requirements. China is expected to register the fastest growth in demand based on rapidly expanding pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities and the phasing-in of a government-mandated programme to upgrade the quality of nationally produced medicines.
Among all pharmaceutical packaging products, blister packaging is considered the growth driver in this segment. Broad adaptability to unit dose, clinical trial compliance, institutional, over-the-counter and sterile drugs are the advantages of blister packs. European Union countries have designated it the preferred format for dispensing prescription drugs directly to patients. Plastic bottles grab the second-largest share of world pharmaceutical packaging demand due to cost advantages and versatility.
Segment-wise, packaging of solid oral ethical and over-the-counter drugs show sustained growth as they are distributed in large quantities to institutional and retail pharmacies. Along with this, pharmaceutical pouches and strip packs generate average growth, while medication tubes provide much softer growth potential. In the area of parenteral packaging, prefillable syringes fare the best in the marketplace due to advantages in infection prevention and in emergency response times.
Currently, prefillable inhalers show great promise over other primary containers as new asthma and allergy medicines with specialized administration requirements reach the market. The market for glass pharmaceutical bottles and jars witness a downturn as applications are lost to blister packs and high barrier plastic bottles, studies suggest.
Pharmaceutical packaging occupies around 10 to 15 per cent of the overall drugs and pharmaceutical market in India and is growing steadily with the same pace of the industry. Of this, blister packaging has the lead with a 60 per cent share of the primary packaging market. Primary packaging comes to around 60 per cent of the total packaging industry.
Though packaging is yet to be regarded integral part of the product, one cannot ignore signs of growth and innovation in this valuable segment. Barrier coatings with PVC for blisters, PET based vials, easily peelable and sterilisable packs for medical devices tamper identifiable inks, labels and holograms are some typical examples.
Also, the upbeat trend in the pharma industry also has opened up considerable opportunities to the packaging machinery development in the country-both on the packaging line operations and end of line operations, says P V Narayanan, chair professor and director, SIES School of Packaging / Packaging Technology Centre, Mumbai.
The allround growth and growthrate should be much higher with the poised demands for drugs and pharmaceuticals and considerable innovative opportunities available for the industry, ``Tamper proof and security packaging alone could be a niche area of innovation challenges and growth potentials,'' he says. However, he is of the opinion that the awareness on the importance of packaging is one area where we are lacking.
Packaging is already considered an essential aspect of the product in the regulated markets. Though they are yet to form stringent regulations, the developed world is now seriously getting aware of the fact that packaging is an important aspect.
"When we talk about a product, we cannot separate the packaging it comes through. It is very much integral. It's actually a part of the product," says Dr Praful Naik, president, Bilcare, the leading player in pharmaceutical packaging. However unique the quality may be, the product deserves to be protected from all sort of possible deterioration it is prone to.
An extremely sensitive product like a pharmaceutical needs to be preserved with maximum care. And packaging is the only way to address this. This is awareness needs to be created among the industry and consumers, he opines.
According to him, to achieve optimum packaging benefits, different materials and methods may have to be integrated. Here one requires to innovate in accordance with the specificity of the product. Products have different characterestics and they need to be treated differently to ensure optimum packaging. Scientific designing with proper product identification system is very much crucial.
Humidity and other environment factors in a tropical country like ours, fluctuate in different regions. So, a packaging design should ensure the product survive through the diversified climatic conditions across the country for optimum benefits for the end user. Moreover, the critical requirement is product characterization and not packaging characterization.
Possibilility of integrated, product specific approaches is slowly emerging, believe industrial experts. A trend towards custom-friendly packaging design with greater emphasis on the nature and characteristic of products is reflected in select sections of the industry.
A number of packaging firms have already started working towards product specific packs. ``To make packaging essentially suitable for a product, we may have to experiment with different materials, different technologies,'' says a official from a medium sized packaging company based in Mumbai.
A packaging that can provide optimal protection to the product should be something which the pharma firms should look for, regardless of the small variation in the costs factor. ``But when it comes to even for a minor variation in cost, our companies make a retreat, instantly forgetting all its benefits,'' he explains with a smile.
So, a good proportion of pharmaceutical manufacturers India know full well that optimal packaging design is very critical for a competitive environment. However, ``when the pressure of cost comes, it becomes holistically diluted,'' Naik says.
Ideally, the pharmaceutical industry should work hand in hand with packaging segment to find cost-effective solutions in optimal packaging. Such an integration can help maximize efficiency, maximize speed of innovation, suggest experts.
Gelatins: Pills of tomorrow?
Gelatin is a naturally occurring protein, which is commercially sourced from meat and leather industries. Pharma grade gelatin forms 21 per cent of the total gelatin market which is estimated at $ 1.2 billion and growing at 3 per cent per year. Gelatins find a variety of uses in the pharmaceutical industry, including hard and soft shell capsules, vitamin encapsulation, tablet binding and others. Hard shell gelatin capsules have high Bloom strength. Bloom value is a measure of the gel strength of a particular type of gelatin indicating the firmness of the gel. Several gelatin types may be used in the manufacture of hard capsules. More recently, limed gelatins with lower Bloom strengths in the range 180-230g (BSI) have been used. 160 Bloom limed gelatin has traditionally been the standard gelatin for the manufacture of soft shell capsules. Gelatin has an unlimited shelf-life with no suitable substitute. India is one of leading producers of gelatin in Asia with the Mumbai-based Sterling Biotech Limited as the largest player. 90 per cent of Sterling Bio's gelatin production is meant for pharmaceutical purposes in India. Out of this 70-75 per cent is used for capsules alone, Sterling sources said. Gelatin sees a bigger opportunity in India as the pharmaceutical and health care market is growing at a rapid pace and many drug firms including Ranbaxy Limited is planning a wider bigger application for gelatin capsules.