The latest report into the black market for Pharmaceuticals by the Government Accountability Office estimated there are than 36,000 rogue Internet pharmacies.
Counterfeit drugs are one of the greatest threats to patient safety and the pharmaceutical industry. Smart packaging is capable of addressing the issue.
Smart packaging fits into two designations: active and intelligent. The former works to improve a product, while the latter is designed to collect data and communicate with the user — for example, alerting them to an upcoming sell-by date.
Intelligent labels or ‘smart labels’—labels inlaid with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology—are rapidly improving many aspects of how we live, from the clothes we wear and the food we eat to our cars, medicine, and air travel.
A report in 2015 predicted that in the next few years the global smart packaging market will hit almost $40 billion. With that size of scale, it means the technologies that make up smart packaging have the potential to deliver significant value to businesses and consumers alike.
Anything that can be used to increase patient safety and help a brand’s reputation will be taken seriously in an industry where the rewards are so huge. Over the next few years, the pharmaceutical market is expected to experience above-average growth, aided by the commercialization of sophisticated biotechnology-based drugs, which tend to be costly.
