Pharmaceutical Contract Packaging Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary), By Material (Plastic & Polymer, Glass), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027

Report Overview 

The global pharmaceutical contract packaging market size to be valued at USD 47.7 billion by 2027 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1% during the forecast period. Increasing stringent quality requirements and outsourcing of pharmaceutical packaging to contract packagers in emerging countries are expected to drive the market over the forecast period. Pharmaceutical companies are outsourcing the packaging activities to contract packagers to reduce the overall cost of production and speed to market. This is anticipated to contribute to the growth of the market over the forecast period. In addition, lack of in-house packaging capabilities, expertise, and budget constraints are the major issues faced by small pharmaceutical companies in the industry. Contract packaging service providers are recognized as an effective approach to curb such issues of the small companies owing to the low-cost service offering.

Lack of resources and budgets has prompted many small pharmaceutical companies to established mutually beneficial relationships with Contract Packaging Organizations (CPOs) and Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs). Contract service providers are making significant attempts to meet their client’s expectations and provide highly sophisticated packaging facilities. Moreover, the growing pharmaceutical industry across the globe is anticipated to drive the market. As outsourcing of packaging activities offers several benefits such as access to advanced packaging technologies, increased efficiency, focus on core areas, access to skilled resources, and faster and better services, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly outsourcing the wrapping services to the CPOs and CDMOs.

The implementation of serialization including the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in the U.S. and the EU Falsified Medicines Derivative (FMD) has mandated the barcodes on pharmaceutical packaging and the transfer of large volumes of data in the supply of medicines. This has made manufacturing companies to develop appropriate infrastructure to comply with this new legislation. The introduction of serialization is expected to drive the market over the forecast period.

Pharmaceutical Contract Packaging Market Trends

Technological innovations, population increase, health awareness, the implementation of advanced manufacturing techniques, higher spending in public health systems, and the government implementation of new regulations to control the transmission of contagious diseases are all contributing factors to the growth. Furthermore, the growing demand for bio-products and new treatments such as gene and cell therapies are helpful to promote the pharmaceutical companies thereby increasing the demand for such packaging products.

The popularity of generic pharmaceuticals in the developing countries would drive the need for pharmaceutical packaging in the coming years. Many companies are focusing on the development of generic pharmaceuticals to provide medical care at a lower cost. This packaging is crucial to the manufacturing of generic medicines since those are required for effective packing during the storage and transportation. As a result, the market is driven by the growing demand for generic medicines.

On contrary, the generic components can be found in counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs with contaminated contents resulting in health dangers. As a result, the growing scope of counterfeit pharmaceuticals is expected to hamper the market expansion.

The market for pharmaceutical packaging is increased as a result of introduction of new drug packaging techniques with prefilled syringes and prefilled inhalers which are single-dose vaccine units and are packaged using the innovative packaging technology. Regular syringes and vials have been replaced by the innovative products. The demand for these items is being fueled by an aging population along with an increase in ailments including diabetes and asthma that is an opportunity for the development of new drug packaging.

Type Insights

The primary packaging segment accounted for the largest revenue share of 40.2% and anticipated to witness higher growth in 2019. The segment is anticipated to dominate the pharmaceutical contract packaging market over the forecast period owing to the increasing outsourcing of primary packaging activities due to a lack of in-house capacities and capabilities. The segment is further divided on the basis of type which includes bottles, vials, ampoules, blister packs, and others.

The bottles segment is the largest segment in the primary packaging market owing to the growing requirement of pharmaceutical bottles market worldwide and increasing adoption of pharmaceutical bottles for unit dose packaging particularly from high demand regions such as the Asia Pacific. However, the blister packs segment is anticipated to register a higher CAGR over the forecast period owing to the increase in the outsourcing of blister wrapping activities to emerging countries such as China, India, and Brazil.

Material Insights

The glass segment held the largest revenue share of 37.6% in 2019 as most of the midsized and small pharmaceutical companies do not have the glass wrapping capabilities. In addition, low-cost service offerings by the CPOs and CDMOs for pharmaceutical glass wrapping are expected to drive the market.

The plastics and polymers segment is anticipated to witness a CAGR 8.0% over the forecast period owing to the growing demand for the plastic packaging industry in pharmaceuticals for the storage and delivery of medicines. In addition, the increasing complexity of plastic packaging requirements as more innovative products are brought to market is increasing the partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and CPOs in the industry. This segment is also expected to witness the highest innovation index, owing to numerous researches on biodegradable plastics.

Regional Insights

North America accounted for the largest revenue share of 32.7% in 2019 owing to the quality service offerings by the CPOs and CDMOs based in the U.S. In addition, most of the pharmaceutical companies outsource their wrapping activities to contract packagers North America to simplify entry into the U.S. markets.

However, Asia Pacific is expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period due to the presence of a large number of contract packaging service providers in the region. These players are focusing on expanding their facilities to satisfy the growing needs of pharmaceuticals companies. In addition, increasing the outsourcing of pharmaceutical manufacturing to emerging countries such as India is further driving the growth of the market in the region.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

To sustain in the highly competitive environment and improve market share, these companies are adopting mergers and acquisitions as a key strategy. For instance, WestRock Company acquired the Multi Packaging Solutions International Limited to strengthen its pharmaceutical contract packaging service segment in June 2017.

Recent Developments

• In December 2021, PCI Pharma Services acquired LSNE and it is taking a significant step forward by acquiring LSNE that would broaden PCI's scope of services as a worldwide CDMO by using its experience in specialty manufacturing, clinical trial supply, and pharmaceutical packaging.

• In November 2021, Pharma Packaging Solutions, a part of Carton Service Inc., was acquired by Tjoapack. Tjoapack's acquisitions of PPS are likely to lead toward creating opportunities to develop a new worldwide leader in pharmaceutical contractual packaging and distribution network services.

• In December 2020, Experic, a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) and drug supply service company, and EVERSANA, the pioneer of next-generation paid enterprises for the life sciences industry made a partnership to help life science companies optimize clinical development, launch planning, manufacturing, and commercialization efforts.

Some of the prominent players in the pharmaceutical contract packaging market include:

• Amcor plc

• BALL CORPORATION

• Nipro Corporation

• Daito Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

• Pfizer CentreOne

• West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

• WestRock Company

• Patheon (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.)

• Catalent, Inc.

• Baxter BioPharma Solutions

Pharmaceutical Contract Packaging Market Report Scope

Global Pharmaceutical Contract Packaging Market Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2016 to 2027. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the pharmaceutical contract packaging market report on the basis of type, material, and region:

• Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

  • Primary Packaging

    • Bottles

    • Vials

    • Ampoules

    • Blister Packs

    • Others

  • Secondary Packaging

  • Tertiary Packaging

• Material Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

  • Plastics & Polymers

  • Paper & Paperboard

  • Glass

  • Aluminum Foil

  • Others

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

  • North America

    • The U.S.

    • Canada

  • Europe

    • The U.K.

    • Germany

    • France

    • Italy

    • Spain

    • Netherlands    

    • Switzerland

    • Belgium

    • Russia

    • Sweden

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • India

    • Japan

    • South Korea

    • Australia

    • Malaysia

    • Philippines

    • Thailand

    • Singapore

    • Indonesia

  • Latin America

    • Brazil

    • Mexico

    • Argentina

    • Colombia

    • Chile

  • Middle East & Africa

    • South Africa

    • Saudi Arabia

    • UAE

    • Israel

    • Egypt