Growing demand for pharmaceutical packaging from Asia Pacific on account of increased contract manufacturing, ageing population and growth of pharmaceutical industry are expected to open new opportunities for the market, according to a study

A shift towards nano-enabled pharmaceutical packaging and a growing demand from developing countries such as China, Brazil and India are expected to open new opportunities for growth of this market, the study adds

According to some of the industry cognoscenti, in the emerging markets, India, China and Brazil are fast catching up with that of the standards of US, Western Europe and Japanese markets. As huge quantities of pharmaceutical products are being exported to the advanced countries from India, China and Brazil, it has become imperative for the developing markets to abide by the packaging standards of the advanced countries. As the emerging markets are providing cost effective and standard packaging solutions, many overseas companies are outsourcing their business to countries like India and china for cost effective solutions.

India and China will record the fastest growth in product demand due to rapidly expanding pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities, burgeoning drug exports, and the phasing-in of an extensive government program designed to upgrade the quality and integrity of nationally produced medicines.

Currently, owing to the growing concerns over healthcare costs across developed countries, many pharmaceutical companies are under pressure to maintain and improve their existing profit margins. This has led to a dramatic shift in the business model of some of the leading pharmaceutical manufacturers in the industry. A majority of the manufacturers have already diverted their investments to high-growth markets such as India, China, and Brazil. Furthermore, many of the major companies are also establishing their subsidiaries in these regions to establish a stronger foothold in these countries. Driven by such a transition, the APAC and Latin American regions are expected to spearhead the overall packaging equipment market for pharmaceutical growth.

Indian packaging sector
According to some experts, the pharma packaging sector in India is fast moving on the growth ladder with many growth drivers like establishment of many small big product manufacturing and processing industries coming up at a larger scale. Moreover as most pharma companies are exporting their products to the overseas markets they are adopting high level packaging standards on par with the international standards.

Indian pharma packaging is going to assume a greater importance owing to the fact the country is having one of the world’s biggest and growing pharmaceutical industry consisting of huge packing/packaging needs for bulk drugs, formulations, diagnostic equipments/ kits, clinical trial drug packaging especially for multicentric trials both the investigational drug products and the analyzable samples of plasma, serum etc.

The major drivers attributing to the growth of packaging industry in India are the rise of large number of product processing units, among these food processing, formulations, bulk drugs and other related industries have catalyzed the growth of packaging sector. Moreover many of them are adopting advanced packaging technology to ensure safety, quality and long shelf life of the products.

The pharmaceutical packaging market is constantly advancing and has experienced annual growth of at least five per cent per annum in the past few years. As with most other packaged goods pharmaceuticals need reliable and speedy packaging solutions that deliver a combination of product protection, quality, tamper evidence, patient comfort and security needs.

The pharma packaging industry in India is fast growing and needs to give thrust in R&D to further enhance the already booming sector, according to some experts.

With the fast emergence of industrial growth in India, the packaging industry too has picked up its growth. Especially the booming pharmaceutical and food processing industry have created a huge demand for advanced packaging in the country. At present the packaging industry in India is dominated both by the organized and unorganized sectors and is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 15 per cent in India while the global growth is much behind at just five per cent.

As the packaging industry in India offers huge potential it is essential to focus on innovation and development of advanced packaging machinery, opine some of the industry observers.

India needs more packaging professionals as the industry is having a dearth of well trained packaging man power in the country. Indian packaging needs to have more well trained professionals for testing and quality evaluation of packaging materials.

At present majority of the industry appoints unskilled and untrained manpower which may give rise to possible contaminations and product loss during packaging, they feel.

As the pharma industry is highly regulated, it needs to have a very robust and a fool proof packaging material that can withstand the stipulated temperature and other parameters that need to be controlled for retaining the efficacy and safety of the life saving drugs.

For packing the medicinal products pharma manufacturers use various types of glass, pet bottles, strip and blister packs, injectable and ampoules. At present, in India the western regions of country like Maharashtra, and Gujarat are dominating the pharma packaging sector, as these regions have booming growth of the pharma sector. The region and generates about 80 per cent of the total revenue in the country.

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu are the other regions from south that are fast catching up with the western region. With more formulation companies coming up in SEZs of AP and Tamil Nadu, it is expected that the packaging industry will also have a double growth in the coming days.

Earlier, pharma packaging meant for containing products but today with advanced technology, it helps increase the shelf life of products. With growing number of pharmaceutical products and increased demand for Indian drugs overseas, packaging industry has received its much-needed fillip.

Though India is dependent on imports for advanced packaging materials and machinery, the domestic industry too has been evolving over the years. At present there are a few Indian companies which have developed advanced packaging technology on par with global companies and even serving the packaging needs of overseas clients.

Safety is one of the foremost issues that concerns packaging. Particularly in pharma and medicinal products packaging plays a vital role in keeping safe a life saving product.

Unlike in the past, recent advances in pharma/biopharma drug discovery and development along with increasingly varied types of products in the market have had a significant impact on packaging equipment needs today.

Apart from upholding safety and security, the packaging materials should also address the anti-counterfeiting and inspection technology. Fast production rates, changeover time, maintenance, and factors such as expensive and potent drug product and smaller batch sizes have heightened the need for new capabilities in the fill/finish process.

To keep pace with packaging needs, equipment manufacturers have had to enhance automation, increase productivity and boost user friendliness, while decreasing size.

The latest advances in pharma/biopharma packaging equipment encompass enhanced robotics, anti-counterfeiting and inspection technology/track & trace systems, as well as advances in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

According to industry experts, with the rapid development of the emerging markets, progress in drug research, the rise in generics production, the availability of high-potency drugs and innovations in manufacturing processes, the global pharmaceutical landscape is continuously modified.

To overcome the challenges faced by the industry five major trends have been emerging in the field of pharmaceutical processing and packaging equipment. These include a rising demand for pharmaceutical quality and safety through anti-counterfeiting and inspection technology; the ability to handle potent substances; adapting lines for small batch sizes and research purposes; an increasing use of single-use components; and the need to improve productivity by optimizing manufacturing processes with respect to OEE.

Currently the pharma and biopharma companies are demanding more advanced equipment that can give a higher level of aseptic assurance and also should meet stringent regulatory requirements. Present trend to move away from preserved products to aseptically produced non-preserved products.

China packaging industry
China's demand for pharmaceutical packaging has grown at a fast pace in the past decade. In the next five years, both production and demand is expected to grow. China's pharmaceutical packaging is developing rapidly in recent years, maintaining a compound annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent and accounting for over 10 per cent of the GDP of National Packaging. According to some estimates, there are about 1,500 pharmaceutical packaging enterprises in China, 30 of which own patents.

With the economic and technological development, China packaging industry is crucial to all pharmaceutical products used for special packaging materials are also constantly upgrading, with the enhanced awareness of environmental protection, pharmaceutical packaging is moving in a more secure, more convenient and pollution-free direction.

Coupled with the Chinese medical system reform, changes in sales makes pharmaceutical packaging means more emphasis on ease of use and attention to advertising, packaging, non-materialization of the idea has been heightened.

Currently, there are about 1,500 pharmaceutical packaging companies in China to produce more than 50 medical packaging. The annual output value is 150 billion yuan, to meet the pharmaceutical needs of business more than 80 per cent. But at present, the overall level of pharmaceutical packaging is behind the developed countries. Medical Packaging quality and packaging of the pharmaceutical contribution to the economy rate was significantly lower than international standards. While in the developed countries, the proportion of packaging and pharmaceutical value of 15 to 25 per cent, some as high as 30 per cent, China accounts for only eight to nine per cent, points out an analyst.