Even as India is making giant strides in the global pharmaceutical market, the Indian pharmaceutical packaging as well as machinery industries are on a roll adding sheen to the India growth story.
As the global pharmaceutical industry is witnessing rapid expansion with advances in manufacturing processes and technology, the role of packaging in pharmaceuticals has taken an incremental leap and is now a critical part of the product. The pharmaceutical industry the world over has fully recognized the importance of good packaging design and its role in helping patients comply with medication requirements and increasing the brand appeal.
The Indian pharmaceutical packaging market ,which is expected to touch US$50 billion by 2015 as per a Mckinsey report , is fast mirroring the aggressive growth pattern of the global market. The anticipated high volume generics output in India will fuel the growth of pharmaceutical packaging. This phenomenal growth has already spurred the industry to develop a host of innovative packaging solutions with quality, reliability as well as value.
Further the rising health awareness amongst consumers for more hygienic, tamper resistant and disposable packaging is also propelling the Indian pharmaceutical packaging industry growth. New packaging solutions will focus more on drug safety by controlling microbial growth, delaying oxidation and improving tamper visibility, say some of the experts.
Indian pharma manufacturers are gearing up to keep pace with the changes happening the world over. The pharma industry is now making extra efforts to address the novel and advanced solutions in packaging, according to a pharma consultant. They are looking to adopt tamper resistant, easy-to-use and simple-to-discard packaging technologies. There is also an increased focus packaging solutions that are ergonomically designed, regulatory compliant, safe and affordable.
There are also efforts to adhere to ‘go green’ solutions, where by energy saving and productivity efficient concepts are being looked into. In addition, the Union government's insistence to adopt bar code on all drug packs would enable to trace and track the product from the manufacturer to market.
Among the advanced technologies in the pharma space for packaging are use of elastomeric materials for parenteral applications and ready-to-use elastomeric closures, said officials from Gerresheimer Tubular Glass and Helvoet Pharma at a seminar on pharmaceutical packaging early this year.
The pharmaceutical machinery industry is also on a high growth trajectory as companies are exploring innovations, as well as redefining quality measures and turning to standardization to meet the requirements. Indian pharmaceutical machinery manufacturers have been one of the key contributors to the growth of the Indian pharmaceutical and drug industry.
At present, India has the highest number of USFDA approved facilities outside of the US. These manufacturing facilities are fast being upgraded and expanded to out-compete regulated markets. This will also act as a catalyst for the growth of pharmaceutical machinery within India.
Commenting on the current pharma machinery scenario, Rattan Singhania, Hon. Secretary of Indian Pharma Machinery Manufacturers Association (IPMMA ) said over all the industry is doing well since local and international market is good. A lot of local companies are going overseas and expansion prospects are good in domestic market also.
Export prospects are quite encouraging with growth rate being about 10 per cent from the previous year to around 80 countries. At the same time import is very less that too only for sophisticated machines. He stressed on the need for higher output and validation needs for tapping the regulated markets like USA, Europe, Japan etc.