Rethinking Packaging With R&D

As the pharma industry continues to evolve and faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities, players in the pharma packaging sector too need to up their game with strategic investments in R&D

- Swati Rana

The Indian pharma industry is expected to grow to $55 billion by 2020, courtesy ageing and growing population, rising income levels, emergent medical conditions and diseases etc. However, growth in the pharma packaging industry is unable to meet the same pace. To accelerate progress in this sector, which is expected to be worth $2.60 billion by 2020, there is an urgent need for innovation which in turn needs substantial investment on R&D.

So, what are the aspects which highlight the need for a renewed R&D focus in the pharma packaging industry?

Growth drivers

The current focus on packaging R&D is in the areas of product safety, stability and patient’s compliance. As Jaya Abraham, VP, Research and Development, Alvogen highlights, “R&D in pharma packaging would have a significant impact as India’s growing population and economy is creating a large middle class with the resources to afford differentiated medicines to improve the overall treatment outcome.”

Moreover, the looming threat of counterfeiting has also opened up new opportunities in this segment. Industry reports too validate this fact. According to markets and markets research report, stringent government regulations related to manufacturing of counterfeit medicines in several countries of the world has given the opportunity to increase the investment in R&D and be the growth driver of the pharma packaging market during the forecast period, 2016 to 2021.