Plastic bottles accounted for the lion’s share of the market in 2011, with 21.73% of the total, which was followed by parenteral containers and other primary packaging products, accounting for 16.5% and 15.9%, respectively.
Suppliers to the packaging market seem to be the ones driving the cost and fragmentation of the market because raw materials account for more than 35% of the total packaging cost.
“The players of the pharmaceutical market are thereby suppressed by the supplier’s chosen tariff rates. Availability of large number of suppliers thereby provides an opportunity to the buyers an option to choose, which in turn fuels the competition,” the report adds.
Specifically, the volatility in raw material prices - especially PET (polyethylene terephthalate), HDPE (high-density polyethylene), LDPE (low-density polyethylene) and crude oil – “has been a major inhibitor for the market,” the report says.
The North American market’s upswing is expected to be driven by favorable regulatory standards for patient drug compliance, while the Asia-Pacific region will see “substantial growth over the forecast period owing to the increasing generic and contract manufacturing activities.”
Product-wise, pre-filled syringes are expected to be one of the fastest growing segments, especially as the introduction of new bio-engineered medicines and the performance advantages in drug delivery systems improve, the report says.
The growing demand from biologics also resulted in an increased need for pharma packaging and has been one of the major drivers for the growth.
The report also includes company profiles of top market players, such as Rexam, MeadWestvaco, Nypro Inc and Schott AG.