Pharma packaging juggles material shifts and customer demands amid regulatory and recycling challenges

29 Nov 2023 --- In the consumer health industry, packaging plays a critical role in delivering “remarkable experiences,” find pharma and healthcare packaging experts.

Consumers’ expectations for more environmentally sustainable packaging vary across geographies and product categories but are becoming stronger each year, Chris Padain, head of design, packaging and experience at Bayer Consumer Health, tells Packaging Insights. 

“This [regional and product variation] can influence purchase behavior and demand for more sustainable solutions. However, in the current climate, we still see this [sustainability] as a secondary driver for consumers compared to value and convenience. If all else is equal, it can be key.” 

Padain says that demand for sustainable solutions is increasing in countries where Bayer’s trade customers are consolidated (for example, large FMCG retailers). “This is where our customers have set [environmental] sustainability goals, creating demand to ensure our priorities and sustainable innovation pipeline is aligned with collective ambitions,” he asserts. 

Sensoplast sees particular growth for child-resistant closures, says Hoppmann (Image credit: Sensoplast).Child-resistant closures and injectables boom
Dr. Eike Hoppmann, chief sales officer at Sensoplast, tells us that the growth drivers for Sensoplast are child-resistant closures and the pipette assembly market.

“There is also increasing demand for CE-marked products. In this context, the comprehensive provision of documentation services and compliance with special packaging requirements also plays a major role for our customers.”

CE marking indicates that a product has been assessed by the manufacturer and deemed to meet EU safety, health and environmental protection requirements. 

Sensoplast has converted its production to a clean room to meet the increased demand for sterilized products and is working on further solutions to open up new markets in this segment.

The fastest growing segment for customer demand UPM Raflatac is seeing in pharmaceutical packaging are injectables (vaccines, biological drugs and diabetes care), says Paavo Sillanpää, senior manager for Pharma, EMEIA, at UPM Raflatac.

“We have solutions to label the commonly used package types in this segment, such as pre-filled syringes, injection pens, autoinjectors, vials and ampoules.”

Meeting demands through packaging and labels
Across its Pharma and Consumer Health division, Bayer uses a variety of packaging formats for its product portfolio, including tablets in blisters and bottles, ointments and creams in tubes, and liquid solutions in bottles, vials, syringes and cartridges. 

The packaging is made of different materials according to product-specific requirements for safe products. Padain says the company focuses on meeting consumer needs through packaging and uses packaging to enhance the overall experience, as the consumer health industry entails products that are primarily self-selected and administered. 

Meanwhile, Sensoplast offers tamper-evident and child-resistant closures and droppers, pipette assemblies, measuring cups or inserts for dosing syringes, with the help of which patients can take pharmaceutical liquids in conjunction with glass or plastic bottles. Bayer uses various packaging formats for its products, including paper-based blister packs (Image credit: Bayer).

“Due to our ISO15378 certification and the upcoming ISO13485 certification in the coming year, we can implement the most demanding customer requirements at short notice,” says Hoppmann.

“We are continuing to expand our portfolio in the field of medical devices and will therefore be well-positioned for future inquiries in this area.” 

UPM Pharmaceutical’s labeling product portfolio covers the entire breadth of pharmaceutical and healthcare labeling applications. 

“All UPM’s labels are pre-tested for performance on the most common packaging types used in the industry. In addition, all the company’s pharmaceutical labeling materials are covered by a change management process, which provides 12 months’ notice on any changes that occur and last a call option,” asserts Sillanpää.

“Due to the labeling product shelf life of two years, this gives 36 months continued availability of unchanged products, to provide time for any needed requalification.”

Transitioning from glass to plastics
Padain at Bayer Consumer Health highlights that besides environmental sustainability, convenience, ease-of-use and accessibility are critical drivers of consumer demand “and areas where we are actively working on deploying innovations.”

Hoppmann says Sensoplast’s modern production and assembly facilities enable the company to fulfill “almost any individual customer request. This ranges from special color and product combinations to individual logos and customer-specific solutions.”

“This year was characterized by a steady increase in demand for our standard products and development products. This trend is continuing and we expect it to continue next year. In product development, we support our customers from the outset and provide the optimum solution for their product.”

Sensoplast offers black-colored carbon-free closures for pharma and healthcare (Image credit: Sensoplast).Sillanpää at UPM Raflatac says that when it comes to the fast-growing injectables segment, from a packaging point of view, “we are seeing the transition from glass to plastics and the shift from traditional vials and syringe combinations to pre-filled syringes.”

Partnerships and inclusivity 
Healthcare packaging must serve many roles. It must keep people safe, it needs to convey critical information, and it must protect stability and efficacy. 

Padain says that these requirements — and sometimes the regulations designed to protect them — can limit material options that would be easy to shift to for other non-medical consumer products. “Changes on primary packaging can have a long lead time due to high standards to ensure safety for product and patients. Furthermore, availability of certain materials in pharmaceutical grade quality is still limited.”

“Partnerships with our strategic suppliers are key to overcoming these challenges, exploring evolutionary (for example, alternative plastics) and revolutionary approaches (for example, plastic alternatives) to meet short-term goals and our longer-term ambitions,” Padain highlights. 

“We are also strongly focused on inclusive design in our packaging to ensure that it is usable by the widest possible audience, from addressing the permanent needs of people with visual, physical or cognitive impairments, to temporary needs such as a mother dosing medicine while holding a child,” says Bayer Consumer Health’s head of design, packaging and experience.

Meanwhile, Hoppmann says Sensoplast’s products are designed to enable the patient to take medicine safely and with accurate dosage efficiently.

Regulatory and recycling challenges
Hoppmann says that regulatory requirements bind the sector when offering an environmentally sustainable product portfolio. Renewable raw materials often still need the regulatory status or compliance that Sensoplast requires. 

“However, we constantly work on innovations and offer our customers several options, such as PCR material or carbon-free products. However, these can only be used in areas not so strictly regulated,” she highlights.

Furthermore, Sillanpää says that pharmaceutical packaging is not widely recycled due to concerns surrounding drug substance residues, considered hazardous waste. “Also, materials containing recycled content are not accepted due to perceived contamination risk. However, we have thinner materials in our product range, which can help reduce the carbon footprint of labeling and materials made from non-fossil materials.”

“However, for some of the healthcare packaging, which is not considered hazardous waste, we can offer labeled material that enables recycling,” asserts Sillanpää.

By Natalie Schwertheim