Global Industry Analysts (GIA) ranked the pharma sector as second only to the food industry in driving growth of the sector which, while still suffering from the impact of the downturn, they predict will make a full recovery by 2014.
They forecast that: “The expected demand increase from end-use industries, the world market for blister and other high visibility packaging in developed nations is likely to register moderate growth in the near future.”
Pharma factors
They also said the aging global population as an important driver for growth ot pharmaceutical blister packs, suggesting that demand for “senior-friendly” drug packing will continue to increase.
Regulatory demand greater use of printed information and patient guides, particularly for potentially dangerous meds like NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), was also suggested as an important factor.
“Child-resistant designs, unit-of-use packaging, multi-panel labels, package inserts and more space for instructions are the major focus issues of the industry.”
Nano tech, big impact
Elsewhere GIA suggest demand for “smart” technologies will continue to grow, in particular they predict that: “Nano-enabled packaging is poised to grow at an impressive yearly growth rate of about 15 per cent through 2015.”
“User-friendly and customized containers/closures with enhanced shelf life and labels are most sought after packaging trends. In future, interactive packaging is expected to gain public interest.”
A similar conclusion was presented in a report by iRAP which predicted that, at its current 16.5 per cent growth rate, the nano-enabled packaging sectro will be worth $8.1 by 2014.
Overall, GIA’s forecast fits with the general conclusions of a report by Freedonia in September last year, which predicted that blister packaging will play an important role in increasing the value of the US market and to $18.4bn in 2014