Patient-centric Packaging Innovation

Changing patient lifestyles and growing middle class affordability across the world is changing drug delivery landscape and bringing new unmet needs that provide pharma packaging companies impetus to innovate:

 pharmaceutical packaging

 Patient Adherence/ Compliance: With ageing population and increasing life expectancy, share of geriatric patients within the pharma target population is growing and   provides room for targeted innovation. While digital medicine with in-built sensors is making inroads in compliance monitoring and connected care, Abilify MyCite from   Otsuka and Proteus Digital Health, for schizophrenia, being the first digital pill approved by FDA last year, packaging innovations also contribute their share in   enhancing patient adherence. While features such as daily dose markings on the pack are fairly common, advanced features such as digital timers and alarms on pill bottles reminding patients of the time for next dose are already on the market in the western world.

 Accurate Dosing and Dose Monitoring: Dose monitoring features in packaging are increasingly playing a role in abuse deterrence as well as patient adherence. Novel technologies range from simple   metered dosing systems to calendar-enabled closure technologies that tracks, counts pills as they get dispensed and send the data to a smart phone. Unit-dose packaging with key drug details   incorporated in every dose are increasingly finding preferred applications in hospitals and clinics as a convenient and safe option, driving allied trends in packaging.

 Tamper protection and Child Lock: With high contribution of pharmaceuticals in non-fatal childhood poisoning, need for child locking mechanisms in pharmaceuticals is critical. Although such solutions are   commonplace, packaging companies continue to incrementally innovate in striking the right balance between making it inaccessible to children but not too difficult for geriatric patients. Several innovative   packaging mechanisms are evolving in blister packs for tablets as well as bottles and inhalers.

 Sustainability and Carbon Footprint: Although not a principal concern in pharma industry, growing importance in other packaging industries such as FMCG has trickled into due to convergence in packaging  suppliers. Factors such as lean manufacturing and energy-conserving packaging lines are being given increasing importance in the pharma sector. There are also product innovations in primary packaging. There is also growing focus on minimizing PVC content in pharma packaging due to unfavorable environmental footprint.

Source: Pharma Bio World