Marcelo Cruz, vice president, Business Development & Marketing at Tjoapack, examines the trends that will impact drug development and the pharma packaging sector in 2023.
Key insights:
- The implementation of AI into the production and packaging process will enhance processes and safeguard the integrity of primary and secondary packaging.
- There will be a rise in the production lines and capabilities for injectable medications packed both in vials and pre-filled syringes.
- There continues to be a focus on the recycling processes within packaging which can contribute to a more sustainable pharma future.
Personalised treatments for an ageing population
Increasing demand for personalised treatments, an ageing population and the rise of new manufacturing technologies are some of the primary growth opportunities for pharma packaging companies in 2023.
As we live longer as a society, the healthcare sector needs more innovative solutions to keep us all healthier. This means that packaging and production lines will need to adapt towards more customised projects in the future that could also see smaller, niche production runs.
The packaging industry is well-positioned to keep pace, as there is a growing variety of solutions already available for injectable drug delivery in home settings. As self-administration of injectable drug products has become the new normal, so too has the expansion of production lines and capabilities for injectable medications packed both in vials and pre-filled syringes.
Proliferation of automation technologies
Pandemic-related supply chain disruption and labour shortages aggravated by the geopolitical situation the world is dealing with have prompted companies to embrace the proliferation of automation technologies. The advantage is that it limits human interaction with products and packaging and boosts the level of sterility, avoiding the human error risk.
The digitisation of data is also helping improve efficiencies across all operations. We will continue to see the implementation of AI into the production and packaging process to enhance processes, such as vision inspection, and safeguard the integrity of primary and secondary packaging.
Looking ahead, based on patients’ data, companies will have an even deeper understanding of the customised solutions, personalisation and precision medicines needed for the future.
The implementation of blockchain technology will also make the process of serialisation more effective by tracking products more thoroughly through production and storage to distribution.
Blockchain makes the product tracking more secure with less errors, fixing global supply chain vulnerabilities, accelerating collaborations among companies, and reducing fraud and assuring product authenticity.
Focus on sustainability
Finally, there is a real focus on sustainability, especially in the packaging process. However, it is still quite challenging to implement sustainable solutions in pharma as all the new packaging formats or materials must be tested, compliant with the industry regulations and answer all the requirements for the packaging of certain products. This requires further development of sustainable solutions for the packaging companies putting more focus on the recycling process which contributes to a more sustainable pharma future.