Indian pharma industry will drive the innovative packaging needs of the future. Specifically the generic drug companies in the country will now require stringent, secure and quality primary and secondary packaging to make a dent in the export market. We are looking at Asia to accelerate much of the growth prospects, said PT Sreekumar, managing director, Essentra Asia.

“Our primary and secondary packaging solutions comprising cartons, labels, leaflets embedded with trace and track solutions for the pharmaceutical, medical devices and personal care range is a key growth opportunity in India. India which leads in generic drugs manufacture is critical for us to reap much of the revenues”, Sreekumar who was in India told Pharmabiz.

The big pull from India is that it is a base of global regulated production plants. This automatically creates the need for foolproof packaging solutions to compete in the international arena. We have the most advanced technology for carton design, self-adhesive labels, blister foil, blister cold form, tear tapes, contamination control, fluid control media, polyurethane foam for wound care, lateral flow and absorbent media for diagnostic assays, overt, covert and forensic brand security technologies including holography and taggants, he added.

The UK-based Essentra plc is a leading global provider of specialist packaging and authentication solutions which has already pumped in $1 billion investments and has charted the organic and inorganic paths to spur its growth. The company which has 30 manufacturing plants across US and EU, catering to healthcare and personal care packaging products completed the acquisition of Kamsri Printing & Packaging in Bengaluru early this year.

The Bengaluru facility which spans over an area of over 70,000 sq. ft. with 140 personnel is complaint to global regulatory standards and audited by customers for cartons supply to the pharma companies. The advanced unit located in the Peenya Industrial Area will be the hub of our operations to cater to the needs of the Indian pharma market which is valued at US$ 30 billion and estimated to touch US$ 55 billion, he said.

The domestic pharma sector is now eyeing the global markets and this is where the need for advanced serialization, tamper-proof, anti-counterfeit and anti-pilferage solutions will be much-sought after. As the second largest player globally after MPS (Multi Packaging Solutions, US), we are already accredited by global pharma majors like Pfizer, GSK, Sanofi, J&J among others, who depend on their primary and secondary packaging solutions from Essentra. This is the biggest poof that we can provide to the Indian drug manufacturers on the dependability and reliability of our solutions, said Sreekumar.

Chipping in his expertise on the Indian market, Narayanaswamy A, general manager, Essentra India said that the commitment to innovation meets the rapidly changing needs of customers in terms of adhering to the new norms including the EU Falsified Medicines Directive’s serialization requirements for 2018. When China has already put in its serialisation on packaging, Indian pharma will now need to opt for this. This facility in India is part of the 10 sites globally for cartons.