Understanding the Pharmaceutical Packaging Industry
The pharmaceutical packaging is essential for the protection of critical healthcare products. The whole process of presentation and information about the dosage form, identification of the components of the product, and the convenience associated with the administration of the product plays a vital role in the packaging industry. The growth opportunities for vendors and manufacturers of pharmaceutical packaging are driven mostly by the growing demand for drug delivery devices, technological advancements, and reduction in the packaging cost coupled with the advancement in the technology. In addition, a rise in the demand for reusable and specialty packaging is also expected to bolster the pharmaceutical packaging market growth during the forecast period. Besides, with the growing e-commerce and online purchasing trend in developing countries like India, China, and Brazil, drugs also need robust packaging keeping in view the safety of the final product. Hence, the growing e-commerce industry is further driving the growth of the global pharmaceutical packaging market in the coming years.
The latest pharmaceutical packaging technologies blister and aseptic packaging is getting popularity as most of the pharmaceutical products today need reliable and speedy packaging solutions that deliver a combination of product protection, quality, patient comfort, and security needs. Expanding healthcare and pharmaceutical industry in developing countries is considered as one of the major driving factors that are boosting the pharmaceutical packaging market growth in recent years. In fact, according to the International Trade Administration (ITA), the U.S Department of Commerce, the biopharmaceutical industry accounted for more than $1.3 trillion in economic output, representing nearly 4% of total U.S output in 2019.
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Source: The World Bank
In addition, increasing investment by market players in the form of acquisition or production capacity to expand the product portfolio is expected to further drive the growth of the market for technologies like blister packaging in the pharmaceutical industry in the coming years. For instance, in October 2018, Merck invested nearly €63 million which is a part of €1 billion investment plan of the company in transforming the Darmstadt site which will be dedicated to the packaging and shipping of the company’s pharma medicine. Furthermore, rising health spending coupled with the growing geriatric population is further anticipated to boost the demand for medicines thus augmenting the market growth opportunities for the packaging industry in the coming years. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, per capita, health spending in the United Kingdom has increased from US$2969.6 in 2006 to US$4653.1 in 2019. Similarly, in the United States, health care spending per capita has increased from US$6,806.9 in 2006 to US$11,071.7 in 2019. Furthermore, advanced packaging solutions are increasingly being utilized in clinical trials, drug promotion, and commercial packaging. Thus, the burgeoning number of clinical trials in the developed and developing regions is unlocking growth opportunities for the pharmaceutical packaging to provide efficient solutions that are suitable for these trials.
By Raw Material Metal Foils Segment Is Expected to Grow at a Significant Rate During the Forecast Period
Metals such as aluminium foils are being extensively used in pharmaceutical packaging to create a barrier from light and oxygen, thus eliminating the need for refrigeration and further improving the shelf life of the products without the usage of any type of chemical. Furthermore, metal foils are also a commonly used form in blister form of packaging. Thus, an increase in the demand for these medicines and other healthcare products is estimated to push the metal foils aseptic packaging market positively
Geographically, the North American Region Is Anticipated to Hold a Substantial Share in the Market
Based on geography, North America is expected to hold a major share in the pharmaceutical packaging market owing to the early adoption of technology, and the high health expenditure in countries like the United States and Canada among all the developed regions of the world. The rising health concerns are anticipated to increase health spending on drugs by individuals. Also, initiatives are taken by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services which recently proposed a regulation aimed at lowering the drug prices and reducing the out of the pocket expenditure thereby encouraging pharmaceutical manufacturers to pass the discounts directly to the patients. This is further expected to push the demand for pharmaceutical drugs, thus, driving the pharmaceutical production and hence the revenue generation opportunity for the participants in the drug packaging value chain. Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently passed a regulation requiring all the prescribed pharmaceuticals dispensed in the hospitals and nursing homes to be packaged in the unit dose format with barcodes to reduce dispensing errors, which is expected to significantly benefit the pharmaceutical packaging market in the region. While the Asia Pacific region is expected to be one of the fastest growing, this is due to the expanding pharmaceutical industry, especially in the emerging economies of India, Indonesia, and China. In addition, with the growing prevalence of chronic diseases in the Asia Pacific region, the market for pharmaceutical packaging is projected to expand due to the rising demand for drugs and other pharmaceutical products supported by effective treatment procedures in the region. Furthermore, growing health awareness among individuals in various parts of the world is expected to provide an exponential opportunity for the market to grow at a sustainable pace in the upcoming years.
Furthermore, with the growing global geriatric population, the pharmaceutical packaging market will continue to surge on account of the increasing number of hospitalizations for the treatment of age-associated chronic diseases. Also, as per the United Nations latest report, by the end of 2050, more than sixteen percent of the people in the world will be above 65 years of age, which is estimated to rise from nine percent in 2019. An increase of more than seventy percent. Besides, the number of individuals aged 80 years of age or more is estimated to grow to three times, from a population size of around 143 million to a population size of around 426 million from between 2019 and 2025. According to the World Bank report, the population ages 65 and above as the percent of the total population in Italy and Japan has increased from 20.08% and 21.23% in 2008 to 23.01% and 28.01% in 2019 respectively.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rajat Sudan is a Market Research Analyst at Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence, working on estimates and global/regional specific reports on multiple industries ranging from healthcare to automotive, with a special knack for packaging. With the addition of his formal education in Economics, Commerce, and Finance, he is able to provide more light on the macro aspects of the story. To read more articles by him, and for more information regarding multiple global markets,visit www.knowledge-sourcing.com.
