Pharmaceutical Contract Packaging Market by Types (Primary Packaging [Bottles, Vials, Ampoules, Blister Packs, and Others], Secondary Packaging, and Tertiary Packaging), Materials (Plastics & Polymers, Paper & Paperboard, Glass, Aluminum Foil, and Others), and Regions (Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa) - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Share, Size, Trends, and Forecast 2021 – 2028

The global pharmaceutical contract packaging market size was valued at USD 28 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 7% during the forecast period, 2021–2028. The growth of the market is attributed to the increasing outsourcing and growing quality requirements of pharmaceutical packaging in emerging countries.

Pharmaceutical contract packaging is type of packaging which serves to pharmaceutical industry only. It refers to the packaging activities done by third party vendors. Many drug manufacturing companies are moving towards outsourcing the packaging to save their expenses and time. The packaging activities are outsourced to contract packagers by pharmaceutical companies to reduce the total production cost and speed of the market. This is projected to push the market growth over the forecast period.

Moreover, small pharmaceutical companies present in the industry faces some issues such as budget constraints, lack of in-house packaging capabilities, and expertise. To control these issues contract packaging service providers is an effective approach. Limited resources and budgets has encouraged many small pharmaceutical companies to build mutual beneficial relationships with Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs) and Contract Packaging Organizations (CPOs).

Contract service providers are doing substantial efforts for giving highly sophisticated packaging facilities and meeting their client’s expectations. The developing pharmaceutical industry around the world is projected to propel the market. Outsourcing of packaging activities provides multiple benefits such as increased efficiency, existence of skilled resources, quicker and better services, and focus on core areas. Because of these benefits companies are rising outsourcing the services to  the CPOs and CDMOs.

Market Trends, Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities

• Rising geriatric population, innovation in packing, and strict norms for packaging are major factors boosting the market growth.
• Growth of pharmaceuticals sector and introduction of serialization are projected to propel the market expansion over the forecast period.
• Increasing requirement of drug delivery devices, growing health consciousness, and increasing burden for reduction of costs are estimated to drive the market.
• Constant rising cost of R&D and increasing packaging costs due to strict regulations and anti-counterfeiting efforts are expected to hamper the market growth over the forecast period.
• Pharmaceutical packing is important aspect when safety of medicines are considered, therefore many corporations are unconvinced for giving the control of packaging to outside vendors, which is anticipated to impede the market growth.

Scope of the Report

The report on the global pharmaceutical contract packaging market includes an assessment of the market, trends, segments, and regional markets. Overview and dynamics have also been included in the report.

Market Segment Insights

Primary packaging segment is projected to hold a major market share
In terms of types, the pharmaceutical contract packaging market is segregated into primary packaging, secondary packaging, and tertiary packaging. The primary packaging segment is expected to hold a key share of the market during the forecast period due to rising outsourcing of primary packaging activities owing to inefficient in-house capacities and capabilities. The primary packaging segment is further bifurcated into bottles, vials, ampoules, blister packs, and others.

In the primary packaging market bottles segment is the major segment due to increasing need of pharmaceutical bottles across globe and growing adoption of pharmaceutical bottles for unit dose packaging in regions such as Asia Pacific. On the other hand, the blister packs segment is anticipated to expand at a rapid pace during the forecast period because of rise in outsourcing of blister wrapping activities in emerging countries such as India, Brazil, and China.

Plastics & polymers segment is expected to grow at a rapid pace
Based on Materials, the pharmaceutical contract packaging market is divided into plastics & polymers, paper & paperboard, glass, aluminum foil, and others. The plastics and polymers segment is expected to account for a key share of the market during the forecast period due to increase in demand of the plastic packaging industry for the delivery and storage of medicines. Also, rising difficulty of plastic packaging needs because of innovative products are coming in the market which rising the partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and CPOs in the industry.

The glass segment held the largest market share due to inability of glass wrapping in various midsized and small pharmaceutical companies. Moreover, the CPOs and CDMOs offers low-cost service of pharmaceutical glass wrapping is anticipated to boost the market.

North America is expected to dominate the market
On the basis of regions, the pharmaceutical contract packaging market is categorized as Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. The market of North America is anticipated to expand at an impressive CAGR during the forecast period. The regional market growth can be attributed to the service quality given by CPOs and CDMOs based in the U.S. Furthermore, to enter in the U.S. markets, many pharmaceutical companies outsource their wrapping activities to contract packagers North America.

On the other hand, the market of Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit a rapid growth rate in the coming years owing to occurrence of huge number of contract packaging service providers in the region. These providers are majorly focuses on facilities provided by them to satisfy the growing needs of pharmaceuticals companies. Also, rising the outsourcing of pharmaceutical manufacturing to countries such as India is one of the propelling factor for the market growth in the region.