Non -adherence or lack of patient compliance to much needed medicines is on the rise. One of the very common reasons is forgetting to take the medicine or stop taking their medicine earlier than instructed. Many of the reasons for non -compliance are very complex and one of the reasons is lack of innovative (customized for specific age groups and specific diseases) and attractive packaging.
A lot of the causes of medication non compliance are psychological. Some of the potential causes of non compliance in patients are:
Type, seriousness and the nature of the illness: Lesser the seriousness of the illness better is the compliance. If the disease has longer duration or constant occurrence, adherence to compliance falls even more.
Therapeutic regime complexity: If the disease has a complex and long duration dosage profile, patient compliance declines even more heavily.
Information about the disease and the patient –provider relationship and the health “belief” model: Doctors spend very less time with their patients in explaining to them about the importance of compliance related information to their patients. This has significant impact on the patient “beliefs” about their disease. Patients may view their disease as a threat and some may even deny its existence. Fears regarding treatment and possible side effects may lead to further non compliance.
Reducing patient non compliance
It is increasingly becoming important that packaging can significantly reduce the levels of patient non compliance and with the aid of advanced technology packaging can further be enhanced and made sophisticated. Some of the sophisticated methods which can /are packaged with the medications:
- Medication devices which beep at the medication time
- Devices which track the number of dosages removed from open packaged medicine box/container collect statistics on the numbers taken/missed and send the information to the pharmacy and the doctor.
- Devices which remind patients to take medicines and continue to beep till the patient presses the button and sends the data for confirmation
- Miscellaneous reminder devices like automated pill boxes and wrist watches
Although even the most intelligently or innovatively packed medicine device can guarantee patient compliance in terms of accurate time or accurate dose, but good packaging has the attributes of attractive color, icons, reminders, accessibility, portability and robustness. Effective presentation of pack information can greatly ease patient use and hence encourage compliance.
Pharma packaging market scenario
According to market research source, http://www.freedoniagroup.com/, the pharmaceutical packaging market is expected to exceed $100 billion by 2019 at a growth rate of 6.5 per cent.
Growth drivers of the world packaging market are the developed economies of Canada, Japan, the US, and Western Europe which will account for 60 per cent of the total global demand.
The fastest growing markets in the world packaging market according to freedoniagroup would be India and China due to rapidly expanding pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities and the adoption of more stringent regulations aimed at improving the quality and integrity of domestically produced medicines.
Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Iran, Argentina, and Brazil are among other developing markets that are expected to expand and diversify drug-producing industries and register above average gains in pharmaceutical packaging demand.
According to Freedonia and Transparency market research reports, a brief snapshot of the global pharmaceutical packaging market shows that the market will grow to $80 billion by 2017 at a CAGR of 7.5 per cent
Market drivers of the world packaging market would be the continents of North America (36 per cent) and Western Europe (31 per cent) which would nearly account for fifty percent of the demand. The remaining demand would be driven by the Asia Pacific nations.
In terms of product demand in the pharmaceutical world, the highest demand would be in the area of plastic bottles and blister packaging followed by parenterals. Cumulatively these three packaging forms catered to nearly US $8 billion of US demand. The US demand when forecast for the year 2018 is expected to reach a total of nearly US$12 billion. Another emerging driver in the US pharmaceutical packaging market for the year 2018 is the accessories market. The accessories market in terms of US demand according to Freedonia has been valued at US$5 billion in the year 2013 and is forecast to achieve nearly US$7 billion in the year 2018.
The huge demand of the US pharmaceutical packaging market is indicative of the rising need for patient compliance. This is only possible if the packaging of drug product is not made simple, convenient but also innovative. Pharmaceutical packaging companies are in the process of continuously introducing innovative products.
Challenges facing pharma packaging
Utilizing sustainable packaging in the pharmaceutical industry is a challenge because government safety regulations and patient usability take precedence. Patients are shifting to a more environmentally conscious mindset. They expect pharmaceutical companies to adhere to safety regulations and manufacture high-quality as well as innovative packaging for their medicines.
Some of the challenges facing the pharmaceutical packaging industry include unit-dose control, packaging to combat counterfeit drugs, finding non-invasive barrier testing methods and implementing child-resistant packaging.
Further there are various sets of government regulations which are there to protect people from contaminated medicines. When sustainability is coupled along with all these challenges, it makes pharma packaging production a highly complex manufacturing process. Some of the examples of sustainable pharmaceutical packaging products are eco-friendly pharma calendar-style packs. Along with being eco-friendly, calendar-style portable packs promote daily unit-dose control by including one pill in the designated blister, which are marked with days of the week. Many of these tablet dispensers use child-resistant release buttons on the corner of the packs. The packs are made of environment friendly sustainable paperboard, which replaces plastic resin with recyclable material a more easy-to-use pharma package.
Emerging practices in pharma packaging
Pharmaceutical companies are constantly being encouraged to environment friendly materials for their drug packaging. For this, seamless encouragement is being given to pharmaceutical packaging manufacturers who use environment friendly and re cycled material in their production process.
To achieve sustainable and high-quality pharmaceutical packaging, companies are in the process of incorporating intelligent manufacturing with the usage of eco-friendly materials, including recycled paper, paperboard and corn starch. Recycled paper, paperboard and corn starch are all biodegradable in nature. Sustainable pharmaceutical packaging today includes environmentally friendly aspects, such as unbleached paperboard, fewer ink colors and lighter/thinner paper.
Increasing investment in clean technologies: Pharmaceutical companies are continuously in the process of achieving smart manufacturing and overall sustainable supply chain solutions. For this many large pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmaceutical packaging companies are allocating a part of their budget to clean technologies, which will limit environmental impact by decreasing production time, reducing waste and using fewer natural resources.
The best way to implement these long term practices is to simply reduce the amount of packaging used. New innovations in packaging make smart manufacturing practices possible. For example, DuPont’s Tyvek, a brand of flashspun high-density polyethylene fibers, supports sustainability in healthcare packaging across the full package lifecycle, i.e. primary, secondary and tertiary.
Tyvek prevents microbial infiltration and is compatible with sterilization techniques, which helps avoid wasteful damage of drugs during transport and storage. Tyvek supports stronger packaging designs that weigh less, require less space and can be recycled.
Future of pharma packaging
In the era of globalization, it would be a challenge for the packaging industry, as the years ahead would see the opening of the global channels. Hence to match the international standards and quality, it is would be increasingly important that the packaging industry upgrades more in research to have a holistic approach to packaging that would go beyond functional aspect of packaging. The routine and conventional packages available do not serve the purpose of providing protection against counterfeiting and quality, and the industry is hesitant to adopt the technical advances in the packaging, majorly because of the cost factor. As the pharmaceutical packaging industry is directly or indirectly involved in the drug manufacturing process, it has become essential for it to understand and incorporate newer scientific methods. The pharmaceutical packaging trends are on the verge of innovative rapid growth provided the needs of the product, its security, cost and patient convenience is taken into consideration to build brand identity.
The future of sustainable, high-quality pharmaceutical packaging also depend on the development and follow-through of a strict assessment plan at all levels of an organization’s supply chain. This means that pharmaceutical manufacturers rely more on their packaging suppliers and partners to promote sustainability. By using biodegradable resources, like paperboard, and by using those that support sustainability at all stages of the package lifecycle, pharmaceutical companies can satisfy the need of safety-compliant and sustainable packaging.
Although challenges still exist in the pharmaceutical packaging production, innovation will continue to provide solutions for more efficient packaging and a cleaner environment. Research and development departments and scientists will all play a key role in the future of pharmaceutical packaging. Pharmaceutical companies will benefit from the time spent transitioning to a more sustainable model, especially as they see growing patient compliance and satisfaction.
(The author is an expert in market research and
also the owner of HOW TO)