The pharmaceutical industry is changing at an unprecedented rate. The appearance of new treatments for diseases such as cancer and diabetes is influencing design, production and packaging processes, which means processes have to be adapted throughout the value chain.
Learn about five crucial factors to this change worldwide:
1. Production flexibility;
While the demand for analgesics and antibiotics increases in the so-called emerging markets (India and China), innovative treatment methods are appearing in industrialized nations due to access to more complex substances. Changes are taking place even now in the field of biological therapies, for example in the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases and rare diseases.
As a consequence of such changes, some global drug manufacturers are concentrating on developing new formulations and subcontracting their packaging operations to companies that are often based in emerging markets, China and India in particular. Therefore, current market needs require manufacturing processes to be highly flexible so they can adapt quickly to new products and forms of packaging. Many solutions are produced in smaller and smaller batches. While traditional and generics manufacturers aim to achieve the largest production volume at the lowest cost, big pharmaceutical companies prefer research activities that are fundamental to developing advanced technologies, such as genetic and cell therapies.
2. Self-medication is on the increase;
Thanks to emerging therapies and innovation in insulin delivery systems, patients with diabetes have the same life expectancy today as their peers.
Traditional self-injection devices, such as syringes, are being replaced with increasingly advanced insulin self-injection devices and pens. This development is also due to the fact that self-injectable medicines are not only used for treating diabetes or administering growth hormones; they are now available for treating conditions such as autoimmune diseases, asthma, and hepatitis C, and for emergency medication.
This rapidly changing market requires manufacturers to be highly flexible and to adapt their approach to this new generation of medicines. While a number of injection devices have components in common, their design varies in terms of their size, material and format; this represents a significant challenge for the industry.
3. Product and patient safety are non-negotiable;
For patients with diabetes, the most important consideration is safe and easy handling of pens and self-injectors. For example, insulin pens are loaded with cartridges that go through several processing steps before assembly.
In this regard, quality control and process inspection technology plays an important role in ensuring product and patient safety. Cameras are used to identify cosmetic flaws in containers or cracks, and particles inside the product. After inspection, the pens are assembled. Again, this equipment requires a high degree of flexibility in terms of handling different types of device.
4. Serialization is just the first step towards the "digital pharmacy";
Manufacturers and packagers also face the challenge of selecting and implementing suitable serialization technologies that can connect with production and packaging processes. A number of laws and directives have already come into force around the world to protect consumers from the threat of counterfeit medicines. At the same time, serialization can also be regarded as the first step towards the digitalization of the pharmaceutical industry.
The link between the physical machine and the control software must be built in at every stage in the company if instantaneous monitoring of operating data flow is to be achieved. Data links between all production lines make it possible to monitor the whole process from one central site, even if those lines are physically far from one another.
5. Digital services help optimize production processes.
Essentially, digitalization consists of making machines and services smarter, centralizing data from all production units, and using them to achieve greater efficiency. To do so, the information available must be analyzed with regard to the overall effectiveness of the equipment, for example, or the status of the facilities or processes, simply and in real time.
In the following stage, data extraction can help identify a completely new potential for exploitation that can further optimize production processes. Other digital services, such as preventive services and, in future, predictive services may lead to significant efficiency gains throughout the whole value chain.