< PreviousEND OF LINE PACKAGING 20 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net Sustainable, traceable, profitable Given rising fuel costs and difficulties in the transport and logistics sector, pharmaceutical companies cannot afford to get end of line packaging wrong. 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2022 14:31 Page 1Pharma Business International 21 www.pbiforum.net END OF LINE PACKAGING T here’s no easy means of defining end of line packaging given the depth of its capabilities and requirements. It’s an industry constantly in flux, moving quickly to try and keep up with legislation and trends, while remaining efficient enough to keep the pharmaceutical industry turning a profit. Yet it’s also doing this while meeting the growing requirement for energy efficiency in the supply chain. It is not enough nowadays for pharma products to simply be protected by its end of line packaging. For the investment that has been put into it, the packaging must make the process more efficient and – if possible – both cheaper and made to more sustainable standards. This is more important than ever given the rising cost of fuel and the skills shortages that are gripping the logistics industry. Automation has become something of a buzzword, due in no small part to its ubiquity across the industry, from processing, to packaging right through to delivery. Yet, there are constant developments taking place which improve upon current wrapping machines, robots and rotating arms to achieve a greater efficiency, operate more sustainably and protect bottom lines. This can be a daunting task at first glance. How can a process which is not only going to cost money, but also significant investment in machinery – make the product cost less? The answer is simple and complex at the same time: with good planning. Simply installing shrink-wrapping machinery or palletising processes will do little if there isn’t a bigger strategy behind it, as any within the industry might say. There has to be a view on everything that comes after the point, and what tangible benefit the 22 Á © stock.adobe.com/Mariakray 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2022 14:31 Page 2END OF LINE PACKAGING 22 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net packaging offers, and a plan in place to both take advantage and quantify it. Take for example the transportation process itself. It is still more common than not for pharmaceutical products to be transported by road by lorry, often refrigerated or chilled, but not always. In these cases, the biggest investment often comes from fuel, with the item that a company is buying essentially being the empty space in the back of the vehicle. The problem comes from the fact that in many cases, all this space cannot be utilised. The weight of products will push down on those stacked beneath them, often damaging products. Obviously, this is unacceptable with delicate medicine be it in pills, bottles or any other form, and thus it is not uncommon for space to go unused in the back of a vehicle. Boxes are stacked as high as they can be and no further. This is empty space that still had to be paid for. Strong and rigid end of line packaging can help prevent this, strengthening and protecting the product so that more of it can be stacked without damage. This can be a delicate task, least of all because stronger material will undoubtedly be more expensive. There is a necessity to judge and test on how much is saved by filling lorries further than they were before, and whether this takes a significant number of vehicles off the road. In many cases this will depend on the product itself and how fragile it is. Pharmaceuticals more prone to breakage such as those served in glass bottles, will benefit more from the stronger packaging. Some of the most significant developments to the packaging industry aren’t whole machines, but rather sensors. Given the fast pace of the supply chain, it’s better if products can be scanned and sent to the correct vehicle and destination faster. Sensors and barcode scanners come in here to great effect, drawing from SCM software to identify where the product is stored, where it needs to go and how many boxes, pallets or crates need to be shipped. Working in conjuncture with sensors is the use of offline case marking. Implementing such a strategy greatly reduces the human error which in turn bolsters efficient practices and decreases the risk of damaged goods and loss. The ability to mark-up secondary packaging offline meets a growing need for traceability in today’s pharmaceutical market. For many manufacturers, this is represented by increased levels of traceability to crack down on counterfeit goods. After all, if end of line packaging can be stamped with seals of approval, then it reduces the risk of damage, and knowing where any product is going and from which distribution facility is integral to mitigating the fallout of a product recall. 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2022 14:31 Page 3Pharma Business International 23 www.pbiforum.net END OF LINE PACKAGING © stock.adobe.com/Sergey Ryzhov 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2022 14:31 Page 4CLINICAL TRIALS 24 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net Clinical or social Social media is the future and clinical trials might soon be organised and recruited for on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or TikTok. What are the risks involved and how can companies minimise them? 24-27.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2022 14:31 Page 1Pharma Business International 25 www.pbiforum.net CLINICAL TRIALS A s the world becomes ever more modern and technology commonplace, pharma companies are taking to social media to advertise and promote their products, as have many other industries. Despite this, there are relatively few pharma companies promoting their clinical trials through social media, which could allow them to access a whole new ground of potential applicants of many ages and backgrounds. The question must therefore be why? Is this an untapped market that can help stock clinical trials with excellent applicants at low cost, or are there hidden and unseen dangers lurking on social media? As ever, the answer is more nuanced than yes or no. In today’s world of clinical trials, decentralised as they have been since COVID-19, finding the right applicants can be a daunting task. This was traditionally achieved through advertising in various local newspapers or online, which always came at a cost. With the world embracing social media through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, however, there is a new method for reaching out – and with each platform catering to different demographics, it’s even easier to target this. It has been noted in the past that many clinical trials are letting their customers down by not performing tests on younger adults and adolescents. There is obviously more legality involved when dealing with children and those who might need the permission of another, but the bodies of adults and children differ, and a list of side-effects for an adult may not correlate to those that a younger customer might experience. Pharmaceutical companies are already pushing prescription drugs through TikTok and using this as a platform to target younger audiences, but there has been little done to bring clinical trials to this space – and that is a shame. Social media allows for greater levels of accountability and information sharing – and yes, also misinformation. This is one of the risks involved with using it. However, misinformation often thrives when it is the only opinion given in a sea of ambiguous data. By having clinical trials advertised through social media, and by allowing those in the trials to be seen as real people, other users, some even suspicious of medicine, can see that those in the trial are doing well and 26 Á © stock.adobe.com/REDPIXEL 24-27.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2022 14:31 Page 2CLINICAL TRIALS 26 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net experiencing no side-effects. They can even get a greater appreciation and understanding for just how stringent clinical trials are, and just how much work goes in to making sure people are given safe medication. In an era where anti-vaxxers and other malicious misinformation sources are damaging the reputation of pharma companies, fighting them in their own backyard may well be the answer the industry has been looking for. That said, there is also the risk of malicious or untrue information being shared. For instance, someone in a trial might experience a headache or migraine from a different source, or even exaggerate a minor headache as a crushing migraine and send conspiracy theorists and more into a tizzy about blood clots, symptoms and their own non-scientific diagnosis of a patient they have never met. This risk is one of the major factors that has until now had pharma giants nervous to promote their clinical trials on social media. Obviously, the risk of these lies has always existed and no one can stop a triallist going on social media after and complaining anyway, but by having the whole process undertaken through social media it makes it all the easier for trolls and conspiracy theorists to try and poke holes. Another problem comes as pharma companies get larger, and thus their responses to comments get slower and slower as a written response needs to be passed through more departments, more PR teams and then pass additional checks. In the time this takes, be it minutes or hours, comment threads can take on a life of their own and silence is often taken as an admission of guilt. Social media is a very unregulated and unguarded place after all. One strategy is to not respond to public comments but instead to privately contact the individual in the trial and discuss with © stock.adobe.com/shintartanya 24-27.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2022 14:31 Page 3Pharma Business International 27 www.pbiforum.net CLINICAL TRIALS them directly. This has the benefit of not acknowledging (or feeding) the trolls, but likely won’t stop them posting. Here, the risk falls in trusting other members of the public to understand that a company’s silence is because the false comments are ridiculous and not because they are trying to keep secrets. The likelihood of this can unfortunately depend on many things, including where it’s marketed, the age range and the overall confidence toward the pharma industry. Ironically, younger audiences may well be more likely to trust in pharma as they have better access to education, whereas older people are often the ones falling into conspiracy theories. This isn’t always the case but highlights the fact that each social media platform might require an individually tailored strategy for hosting and organising clinical trials. Obviously, the best way to avoid all this is to simply not have any problems of side-effects in the first place, but this is obviously not always possible, and people can exaggerate or even misdiagnose their own. The reality is that clinical trials promoted through social media will become a thing in the future, perhaps even the immediate future. The reduced cost is a motivator enough, even before the ease of recruitment and ability to target specific demographics and age groups. What pharma companies need to decide in advance however is how they will handle the move, what their policies will be, and how they can quickly adapt to any negative comments. It won’t be enough to go through the usual chain of PR, management, PR and back over and over – a good social media strategy must be swift, which means an internal (or external) PR agency must be prepared, informed and ready to move swiftly and without constraints to address any problems. Once that is out the way, all that’s left is a host of advantages. 24-27.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2022 14:31 Page 4WASTE MANAGEMENT 28 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net P harmaceutical manufacturers are major waste producers, with proper disposal important not only for regulatory compliance, but public and environmental safety. Concern over pharmaceutical waste, and where it ends up, is increasing, with demand across societies for more sustainable and responsible waste management growing, alongside a deepening consideration within companies over the potential waste holds, as well as general desire to improve processes. Manufacturers in the past have been more than happy to let waste companies simply take waste off site, with little extra thought. Now, though, there is greater understanding over the value of waste produced and opportunity to address costs. Refined segregation is one method of better controlling and making better use of waste, and can improve compliance and safety, all while achieving cost savings and being a boon for bolstering sustainability. Manufacturers may, rightly, be wary when unsure of how to classify waste, which frequently sees it thrown in with hazardous waste. However this is an expensive method, while proper engagement of employees can direct non-hazardous material into general waste, to allow cost and environment savings. Segregating packaging from pharmaceutical solids can see cost and carbon footprint savings, with outer packaging able to be recycled for example, and, as a common waste material, there is opportunity for solvents. Manufacturers are increasingly aiming to recover, reuse and recycle solvents - which, used at different steps of manufacturing products, may contribute to emissions of volatile organic compounds and the output of hazardous waste - to minimise environmental impacts, and when separated Working with waste The pharmaceutical industry produces a significant amount of waste. As a result manufacturers are being called upon to improve waste management in the name of sustainability, but this also presents an opportunity to reduce costs and find a new revenue stream. 30 Á 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2022 14:32 Page 1Pharma Business International 29 www.pbiforum.net WASTE MANAGEMENT © stock.adobe.com/malp 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2022 14:32 Page 2Next >