< PreviousEND OF LINE PACKAGING 20 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net Sustainable, traceable, profitable Sustainable, traceable, profitable Pharma Business International 21 www.pbiforum.net END OF LINE PACKAGING © stock.adobe.com/Artinun I t 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. 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 By the year 2032, the end of line packaging market is anticipated to reach $7.9 billion, and while much of that will be in food and beverage as well as pharma, it’s still an increase of 4.3% CAGR. With such growth comes change, however, and the end of line packaging industry has to adapt to current conditions. 22 ÁEND OF LINE PACKAGING 22 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net such as those served in glass bottles, will benefit more from the stronger packaging. Counterfeit drugs and other medical products continue to plague the pharmaceutical sector and put patients at risk. The financial damage can also be significant, and so a reliable solution needs to be implemented in order to eradicate this illegal trade. Track and trace has frequently proven its ability to strengthen the supply chain, prove effective for manufacturers and keep patients safe from unregulated and potentially harmful products. It proves that packaging will remain critical going forward, as track and trace systems become more commonplace. Outside of track and trace, anti-counterfeit tabs and holographic displays can be used to let consumers know the product they are using is legitimate. However, this relies on the consumer being aware of the trick used – and thus will call on extensive marketing and informational campaigns to inform them. This can be as simple as adverts and promotional material advising customers to “always look for the seal” or something of a similar nature, and this can help clamp down on counterfeit goods that make it through to customers. Counterfeiters will always be upgrading their own equipment to Pharma Business International 23 www.pbiforum.net END OF LINE PACKAGING © stock.adobe.com/fotofabrika match that of manufacturers, so it’s important to stay one step ahead and monitor the situation. Without knowing what the counterfeiters are doing, there is little way to impede them. 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 and 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. CLINICAL TRIALS 24 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net As new technology evolves, so too must the mechanisms we use. While AI is useful for many aspects of drug design, human testing will always be an inevitable facet of clinical trials. That doesn’t mean technology can’t be used to screen for and recruit applicants, however. 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 Digital trials Pharma Business International 25 www.pbiforum.net CLINICAL TRIALS 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 experiencing no side-effects. They can even get a greater 26 Á © stock.adobe.com/shintartanyaCLINICAL TRIALS 26 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net 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 them directly. This has the benefit of not acknowledging (or feeding) Pharma Business International 27 www.pbiforum.net CLINICAL TRIALS © stock.adobe.com/REDPIXEL 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. WASTE MANAGEMENT 28 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net O nce a more overlooked aspect of pharmaceutical production, waste management is gaining increasing public focus as demand for companies to take on greater environmental responsibility for their products builds. Efficient and effective waste disposal is thus essential, especially as legal requirements become ever-more stringent, such as new EU rules requiring pharma firms to pay for the pollution they cause in rivers, contributing to the cost of treating wastewaters. Improper disposal of pharmaceutical waste has become a key concern, whether this incorporates expired medications, packaging, chemical substances, discharges from drug production, or other waste, with this leading to potential water and soil contamination, and in turn posing significant risks to not only the environment and wildlife but human health. To avoid this, pharmaceutical firms must ensure their waste management processes are sound. Vital starting aspects of improved waste management are minimising waste at the source and subsequently correct segregation. Pharma businesses should analyse their waste streams to categorise waste accurately to make sure different waste types are handled correctly based on their properties, reducing potential hazards and facilitating regulatory compliance. With apt waste segregation considerable cost and environmental savings can be made, overcoming issues where in the aim of being over-cautious, or when unsure of its correct classification, waste is simply managed as hazardous waste. Following waste segregation, secure collection, transportation and treatment should be ensured with waste partners, prioritising safety and utilising processes that As the pharmaceutical industry faces closer scrutiny for its waste disposal, and its environmental impact is more widely recognised, responsible waste management is vital. 30 ÁPharma Business International 29 www.pbiforum.net WASTE MANAGEMENT © stock.adobe.com/stokketeNext >