The importance of packaging in the pharma sector to strike the right balance between cost, quality and regulatory compliance is an established fact.
Therefore, as the dynamics of the pharma sector gets transformed by COVID-19 pandemic it is obvious that pharma packaging and labelling too will undergo major shifts.
Express Pharma spoke to some pharma packaging veterans and leaders to understand the major changes that are being ushered into this sphere by COVID-19 and their impact. Let’s look at what their insights reveal.
Supply chain resilience – a priority: The pandemic exposed the gaps in supply chains across industries and pointed out how critical and vital it is to de-risk them. So, many experts highlight that as a priority, the pharma sector and its ancillary industries, including packaging, will look at ironing out the chinks in their supply chains.
Avinash Kumar Talwar, Head – MRO & Packaging Material Sourcing (Strategic & Plant), Global Supply Chain Management, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories points out, “Companies will be looking for contingency plans with short-term, mid-term and long-term plans. They will focus on understanding their own supply chains and mitigating their vulnerabilities. And, despite the inevitable increased costs, risk management across networks and supply chains will continue.”
He states that this will include measures to improve speed to market as well. And, looking at border controls by governments of different countries, many companies will opt for local packaging material suppliers, especially if there is a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
Ajay Bapat from Packaging Concepts feels the same way. He says that most countries are working on localisation from globalisation, calling attention to the fact that the Indian government has also given the call for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
He explains that in order to make supply chains stronger and ensure availability of packaging materials there will be more and more focus on local suppliers.
A surge in antiviral/antimicrobial packaging: Another major trend is the growing demand for packaging with antiviral and antibacterial properties. This is also being spurred, among other reasons, by consumer sentiments and fears about the ability of viruses and microbes to stay alive on packaging surfaces.
As Soumyanath Mishra, General Manager – Packaging and Development, Mankind Research Centre, states, “Since this crisis, packaging designs and substrates that address hygiene and consumer-safety concerns—like minimising the possibility of the virus’ survival on the packaging surface, will see much demand.”
Shivaji Chakraborty, Fresenius Kabi explains, “The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in demand for sterile and antiviral packaging due to the risk of transmission through packaging surfaces.”
Talwar also agrees that there will be innovations in the form of new packaging materials, especially to give indications whether the packaging is virus-free or not. He also opines that this will be a big game-changer or a value creator.
These views are also supported by several market analysis. For instance, a report released by Future Market Insights in April 2020, informs that worldwide adoption of sterile and antiviral packaging will surge nearly 1.7X over 2020-2030. The report also reveals, “Ampoules and vials continue to attract huge investments from stakeholders in sterile and antiviral packaging market. Multi-compartment packaging products such as thermoformed trays and blister packs are reflecting potential value-creation opportunities in.”
Sustainability agendas may go on a back-burner: A recent statement released by GlobalData, a data and analytics company, accentuates “Sustainability has been a big trend in the past few years and many companies in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region have switched to more eco-friendly alternatives, such as replacing plastic materials and removing single-use packaging. However, since the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), companies may resort to plastic packaging to combat the spread of the pandemic putting the sustainability aspect in the back seat.”
In the same statement, Arvind Kaila, Practice Head of GlobalData Consumer Beverages at GlobalData, says, “Single-use packaging, which has faced lots of criticism in recent years because of environmental concern...
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