European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer spoke to Lucy Baldwin, head of research & strategy at Ensera Design about her talk on Designing and De-risking Inclusive Packaging Ecosystems for AstraZeneca at Pharmapack on Thursday 22nd January at 11:50am.
Ensera Design
What does it mean for Ensera Design to be speaking at Pharmapack specifically?
Pharmapack is Europe’s leading event in this space, bringing together thousands of professionals who shape how medicines reach patients safely and effectively. So, speaking in Paris is an important platform for Ensera Design. It puts us right in the centre of the global conversation on pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery, and able to share our decades of expertise with a wider audience.
It’s an opportunity to showcase real-world examples of one of the areas where we’ve had tangible impact: combining inclusive design research and human factors with advanced engineering to create product and packaging systems that work for everyone. Sharing the AstraZeneca case study shows how we can move from research to design freeze quickly, without cutting corners on usability or risk management. It’s proof that thoughtful design and speed can go hand in hand.
Why is Pharmapack the right audience for this conversation?
Pharmapack brings together the people who shape the future of drug delivery and packaging. That’s R&D leaders, product owners, packaging engineers, regulatory experts, and device manufacturers. These are the professionals facing real pressure to deliver solutions that are safe, sustainable, and easy for patients to use, all while meeting tight timelines and compliance requirements and standards.
Our session speaks directly to those challenges. It will show how combining user research with advanced simulation can speed up development without sacrificing quality or inclusivity. That’s a message that resonates with an audience looking for practical ways to innovate under pressure.
Pharmapack isn’t just a trade show; it’s a forum for ideas and collaboration. Attendees come ready to learn and share best practice, and our approach aligns perfectly with the event’s focus on patient-centric design and risk management. It’s the ideal setting to start conversations that lead to partnerships and help set new standards for packaging in healthcare.
When you’re preparing a talk for an event like this, how do you decide what’s genuinely useful for people to take back to their teams?
The starting point is always the audience. At an event like Pharmapack, people aren’t looking for theory, they want practical insights they can apply. So, the first question I ask is: What challenges are they facing right now? For packaging and drug delivery, that usually means speed to market, regulatory compliance, commercial viability and patient usability.
From there, I focus on real examples rather than abstract ideas. Sharing the AstraZeneca case study works because it shows a clear process: how Inclusive Design and Finite Element Analysis combined to deliver a design freeze in eight months. That’s something attendees can relate to and discuss with their teams.
I also try to keep the content actionable. It’s not enough to say “inclusive design matters”; I explain the steps we took and why they worked. If someone leaves the session with two or three ideas they can adapt to their own projects, then the talk has done its job.
What are the biggest challenges you’re seeing across pharma and drug delivery packaging right now that conversations at Pharmapack can help move forward?
One of the toughest challenges is balancing strict regulatory compliance with real-world usability. Packaging must meet every safety and legal requirement, but it also needs to work for patients in everyday situations. That means designing for inclusivity and accessibility without adding complexity or slowing down development. It’s a fine line, and it’s something the industry still struggles to get right.
Sustainability is another big challenge. Everyone agrees it’s important, but turning ambition into action is hard. It’s not just about swapping materials. It often means rethinking entire systems, investing in new technologies, and finding solutions that meet environmental goals without compromising performance or profitability. In a world where most business’ KPIs are tied to speed and cost, that’s a huge shift.
Pharmapack creates the space for these conversations to move forward. It’s where ideas turn into practical strategies, where people share what’s working and what isn’t, and where partnerships start that can drive real change. That’s why events like this matter. They help the industry move from intention to impact.
Without going too deep into the project itself, what’s one principle or mindset from the Ensera Design–AstraZeneca collaboration that you think other organisations could apply immediately?
I’ll share two with you, as they’re both important.
Firstly, collaborate with your stakeholders early and often. Try to include a range of expertise areas in your steering group and engage them from the start and throughout the project. On this project we included product owners, commercial and supply chain managers, device engineers, product security and human factors engineers at every stage. This helped us ensure the voice of the user, commercial context and manufacturing constraints and opportunities were understood and incorporated into our design recommendations from start to finish.
And second, look beyond the pharma industry for inspiration. Including packaging stimulus from the consumer health and FMCG sectors helped us to push boundaries and think outside the box.
What conversations are you hoping your talk will spark once people leave the theatre and head back onto the show floor?
I hope it gets people talking about how they can make their packaging ecosystems more inclusive without slowing down development. With 24% of adults in the UK and 29% in the US reporting having a disability, worth £274 billion collective spending power in the UK alone, inclusive design is not a corner businesses can afford to cut.
Too often, inclusivity is seen as something that adds time and complexity. Our case study shows it doesn’t have to be that way. You can design for diverse users and still hit aggressive timelines if you use the right tools and processes.
I’d love to see conversations around collaboration too. Packaging challenges aren’t solved in isolation; they need input from design, engineering, regulatory, and manufacturing teams. If our session encourages people to think about partnerships, whether with product design consultancies like ours or across their own organisations, that’s a win.
Finally, I hope it sparks curiosity about methods like Finite Element Analysis and contextual research. These aren’t just buzzwords; they’re practical techniques that reduce risk and improve outcomes. If attendees leave wanting to explore those approaches, then the talk has done its job.
For someone attending Pharmapack for the first time, how would you recommend they make the most of it?
Pharmapack can feel overwhelming if you’re new. It’s a big event with a lot happening. The biggest mistake first-time attendees make is turning up without a plan and hoping to stumble across what they need. That rarely works.
The people who get the most out of Pharmapack are the ones who prepare. Do your homework before you arrive: understand your organisation’s priorities, identify the suppliers or partners you want to meet, and know the questions you need answered. If you can, book meetings in advance. Exhibitors are busy, and the show floor isn’t the best place for deep technical discussions. Scheduled time means you’ll have focused conversations that could lead to real projects later.
Think of Pharmapack as an opportunity to connect, not just to browse. Preparation helps you cut through the noise, make the right introductions, and leave with actionable insights instead of a bag of brochures. In short: plan ahead, be clear on your goals, and make every interaction count.