You have a new pharmaceutical product that’s ready for its packaging. Or perhaps you’ve decided that current products are in need of some facelifts.
In either case, what you do for your products’ packaging solutions can make or break their success on the shelves, especially when the competition is fierce because of savvy customers who know what they want in terms of child-resistant caps, senior-friendly containers, or environmentally-friendly products.
Packaging in general is rapidly growing as patients are self-administering their medications. As a result, you will see a demand for small-sized, simplified, personalized packaging. It also affects patient compliance when they are at home, not to mention how hospitals, retailers, and nursing homes handle your products.
Suffice it to say that your drugs, nutraceuticals, and other products are only as good as their packaging. How do you find out what is the best packaging solutions for your situation?
Today’s Patients and Their Medications
When you are considering industrial packaging solutions for your products, there is important recent research that should be considered.
Nearly one half of all patients in the U.S. and Europe are not taking their medications as they are prescribed. This poor patient compliance at adhering to medication schedules has led to worsening illnesses, avoidable health risks, growing hospitalizations, and unnecessary deaths. Reports from research group MarketWatch have suggested that patients’ drug non-compliance is now the fourth leading cause of deaths in the United States. More so, this cost of non-compliance has been estimated to be in the amount of $317 billion in the U.S. and $125 billion in Europe.
Packaging to Promote Compliance
These numbers are definitely disturbing. As a result, you need to use packaging that promotes your patients’ compliance. To do so means that you’ll have to discover a way to increase compliance that also keeps your packaging costs down.
Patient-compliant packaging solutions can lead to not only far less compliance issues, but overall increases in successful treatment. When patients — especially those with chronic, long-term conditions who take many medications — have easy to use drug packaging, they will be more compliant and this will result in improved adherence and successful treatment. What works well for your patients is when their medications are clearly packaged and labeled because of your forward-planning and implementation of well-produced packaging solutions. This helps patients experience successful adherence to their dosing schedules and enjoy better overall health.
Find a Partner in Your Packaging
Eye-catching, informative packaging is needed in today’s competitive pharmaceutical industry. The best way to go about this is to find a partner who will assist you in all of your packaging needs. They should be able to handle every aspect of the packaging project manager from start to completion as well as the entire supply chain.
Then from the medication adherence standpoint, your packaging partner should be able to help you develop packaging solutions that not only brighten up the pharmacy and supermarket shelves, but clearly communicate dosage information through print and graphics.
There are several ways to accomplish this:
- Choose a consultant who can advise you about the product’s design and packaging
- Use the packaging’s design and graphics to extend dosage information to the patients
- Add dosage information directly on to pill bottles
- If blister packaging is used, use any extra space — or create more space — for printing on the package’s inside or back
This consultant for your industrial packaging solutions should also know what are the best materials for your drugs, nutraceuticals, and other products. For example:
- What types of containers would be suitable for your products? Should you select bottles, jars, tubes, or some form of flexible packaging?
- What types of caps or closures are best?
- Is one of the types of plastic a good match for your products?
- Would glass be a good fit?
- Are you concerned about your packaging being child-resistant?
- If your products are senior-oriented, do you want your closures to be senior-friendly?
- How easily can your product’s packaging be recycled?
If you’re not sure where to begin your industrial packaging solutions journey, you’ll need to obtain a highly knowledgeable consultant who can advise you on the best packaging for your products. They should be aware of the latest regulations surrounding your packaging needs and have access to many numerous suppliers.
Choosing the right industrial packaging solutions for your products can be difficult and vital to your branding. MJS Packaging offers the best customer service and lowest prices for your product packaging. We have exclusive access to manufacturers from all around the world, so we can advise you on the best bottles, tubes, closures, caps, and other packaging needs you require.
