Stephen Duckworth, head of Clariant’s new Medical and Pharmaceutical segment, told in-Pharmatechnologist.com that, while demand is increasing, there is a lack of industry understanding about the challenges of including colours in drug packaging.
One common misconception, he explained, is that pigments from different suppliers that have the same chemical number are interchangeable, despite the fact that analysis shows them to have very different chemical compositions.
Duckwoth also said there is a lack of understanding about the differing levels of analysis required for packaging for various types of pharmaceutical products and medical devices.
“Whether you are packaging tablets or making something for a nasal spray, the regulatory requirements are very different,” he added, citing biological impact evaluations as just one example.