'Active' and 'intelligent' pharma packaging are on a 12.9%/yr growth curve through 2013

Most types of pharma packaging are dumb and passive because that’s all they need to be, but there is a growing category of active and intelligent packaging, says market researcher Freedonia Group (Cleveland, OH). This category is currently worth $142 million in the US (2008), and is projected to rise by 12.9%/yr to $260 million in 2013. Freedonia’s report, Active & Intelligent Packaging, attributes the growth to factors including the US population’s growing healthcare needs, decreases in the cost of components like time-temperature indicators, and increasing use of biotechnology drugs with high stability requirements.

Moisture-control active packaging, currently the largest category analyzed in the report, is forecast to grow at a relatively modest 6.2%/yr in pharma, from $88 million in 2008 to nearly $120 million in 2013, driven by growth in moisture-sensitive pharmaceuticals such as AIDs and cancer drugs. There is also a smaller category of oxygen-scavenging or odor-control packaging.

In contrast, the intelligent packaging market is expected to leap 22%/yr in pharma, from $41m in 2008 to about $110m in 2013. The category includes packages such as “talking bottles” (or caps or labels) that remind patients to take their medicine, or unit-dose packages (blister cards) that include various types of active reminding. Also includes are time-temperature indicators for temperature-sensitive vaccines and biotech drugs. In the past, acceptance of these types of products has been hindered by their high cost as well as a lack of regulatory requirements, the report says.

The Freedonia report, available for purchase at $4,700, also analyzes active and intelligent packaging for food and beverage applications; the overall market is worth $1.26 billion currently, and will grow at an 8.3% rate.