The pharmaceutical industry is under pressure. There are few new blockbusters around, litigation risks are growing, regulatory control is tightening, and improvements to compliance and prevention of mis-dosing are needed. On top of this the packaging is now going to have to change.
The FDA report on combating counterfeits (February 2004) recommends all packs should have a unique serial number and that all packaging should move to unit-of-use size by 2007.
The Department of Health’s Design for Patient Safety report (October 2003) recommends that pharmaceutical packs are changed to focus on patient safety. If pack changes are going to happen, why not make the most of it? Although drug efficacy is key, packaging forms an important and often underrated part of the total product. Better packaging brings benefits not only to the patient, but to nurses, pharmacists, doctors and drug companies. Packaging can improve compliance, limit mis-dosing and defeat counterfeiters.
Taking key lessons from consumer sectors, we know these benefits can be achieved at minimal costs. For example, crisp packets are colour coded – we do not need to read the words to know a red pack is Ready Salted or that pink is Prawn Cocktail. The selection is ‘de-skilled’ and errors minimised.
Compare this with pharmaceuticals where a potentially lethal cancer drug is presented in the same format as a mild anaestetic. Further examples of helpful consumer packaging are almost endless – trigger sprays for surface cleaners, widgets in beer, salads with integral spoons, even self-heating products. Improved packaging is a proven formula for success.
But the pharmaceutical industry appears to spend little effort on packaging to help the patient (the consumer). Legislation, emerging technologies, and market pressures mean that pharmaceutical packs are going to change. Why not make the most of it and deliver other significant benefits at the same time?
This article originally appeared in 'Packaging Magazine' in May 2004, and was written by Paul Earnshaw of PA Consulting Group's Product and Process Engineering Practice.
