Despite decades of effort to design pharmaceutical packaging that helps people take the right dose of the right medication at the right time, non-adherence remains a serious and far-reaching problem. Rich Quelch, Global Head of Marketing of Origin, a global pharma packaging and supply chain specialist, explains how the latest technologies and methods are being employed to help solve this pressing issue.
How pharma packaging can improve patient compliance R
esearch suggests around half of patients who are prescribed medication don’t comply with recommended adherence advice in some way. Non-compliance can take many forms. It could be forgetting to take a dose, refusing medicine due to off-putting side effects, taking incorrect amounts or not requesting a repeat prescription. Whatever the circumstance, patients are suffering because they’re not taking a prescribed medicine correctly or at all and, in the process, excessive amounts of medicine are being wasted.
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In the EU, 200,000 people die each year as a result of failing to follow medication advice properly. In economic terms, this costs the EU €1.25 billion and the NHS £500 million every year, putting additional financial strain on healthcare systems. Pharma packaging innovation plays an important role in boosting patient compliance and improving health outcomes.
Intelligent blister packs The use of blister packaging for solid dose medication is widespread, and this form of
delivery system is a core focus for innovators looking to boost compliance and enable adherence monitoring. ‘Smart’ blister packs are becoming increasingly popular, featuring an incorporated microchip which captures use-related data to monitor when a medicine is being taken and remind patients when the next dose is due. They can also provide warnings when the expiry date is nearing, if storage conditions aren’t safe or the packaging has been tampered with. Intelligent blister packs empower pharmacists and healthcare professionals caring for the patient by giving them access to the patients’ medicine-taking behaviours at home. This valuable information can then be used to get to the root cause of non-adherence and address any behavioural issues head-on in a way that hasn’t been possible before. Another good example of innovation in this area is smart wireless pill bottles used primarily for the treatment of cancer. Each bottle incorporates a wireless cellular chip and sensors which collect real-time adherence data such as when the bottle is opened and reclosed. In
