PACKAGING: LABELLING
How to succeed in sustainable OTC medicines labelling? The choice of label material plays a major role in pharmaceutical packaging. The label on the product helps to protect, inform and secure, and it can positively impact the sustainability of the packaging. In an increasingly competitive over-the-counter market, choosing a value-adding sustainable label has become more important than ever. In this article, we’ll guide you to find ways to elevate the sustainability of your products by finding the right labelling material to match the packaging.
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ver-the-counter (OTC) medication consists of prescription-free drugs, such as pain killers, cough syrups and allergy or fever medication. The consumer can purchase these drugs independently and self-administer those for easily self-diagnosed minor conditions. While the packaging for OTC medication must be safe and follow the same stringent regulations as prescription medicines, certain factors differentiate the two and affect the packaging choices: 1. Unlike prescription drugs, OTC products are widely accessible in multiple sales channels such as pharmacies and grocery retailers and online stores. 2. The consumer makes the purchase decision which means that high brand appeal and standing out on the store shelf is more important compared to prescription medicine.
ENSURING PRODUCT SAFETY AND PERFORMANCE WITH PHARMA LABELS Although OTC products are subject to similar packaging regulations and labelling requirements as prescription
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medicines, they are often more costcompetitive which may encourage the use of non-pharmaceutical labelling materials. It can pose some risks: • non-pharmaceutical labelling materials have not been pretested to perform with specific container types, substrates and conditions. • they do not have change management notification service to ensure that the material and its performance remain at the same level as originally qualified • they might not offer the required features, such as migration safety or documentation to meet patient safety regulations. “To tackle these issues, a shift to pharmaceutical, OTC dedicated labelling materials is the answer,” says Lottie Andersson, business development manager, pharma, EMEIA, UPM Raflatac. “Not only do pharmaceutical labels solve the mentioned risks, but they come with even more benefits. The labels are robust and have been pre-tested to endure specific storage, handling and transportation conditions and
their performance remains stable, with carefully controlled change management processes.”
ELEVATING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF OTC MEDICINE PACKAGES In addition to the factors that revolve around product safety and performance, sustainability is becoming more important in decision-making for pharmaceutical packaging design. Many companies operating in the
