Why parenteral packaging is testing pharma’s ability to adapt

Somewhere along the journey from lab to patient, there’s a step that often goes unnoticed. It’s the moment a medicine is labeled. A mechanical gesture, seemingly simple: a printer, a reel, a self-adhesive surface. And yet today, that gesture has become one of the most delicate and complex points in pharmaceutical production. Why?

A rapidly evolving pharmacy landscape

The global pharmaceutical industry is evolving under intense pressure. Companies are expected to deliver a growing number of therapies to a growing number of patients, faster, more efficiently, and with lower risk. This is the result of several converging trends: an ageing population across developed economies, increasing incidence of chronic diseases, and a sharp rise in healthcare investments, particularly in research and development. At the same time, demand is expanding in emerging markets, where access to modern injectable treatments is improving.

To stay competitive, pharma companies must also reduce environmental impact, increase supply chain traceability, and meet increasingly stringent regulatory standards that govern both safety and sustainability. These pressures are not short-term, they reflect structural shifts in how medicine is developed, produced, and distributed globally.

Parenteral packaging market in numbers

Nowhere are these challenges more evident than in the parenteral segment. Used for complex biologics, vaccines, and high-potency drugs, parenteral products require sterile handling, specialized packaging, and exact dosing. And they’re growing in importance.

According to Precedence Research, the parenteral packaging market is forecast to grow from USD 35.99 billion in 2025 to USD 60.89 billion by 2034 (CAGR: 6.02%). Fortune Business Insights estimates a rise from USD 22.98 billion in 2023 to USD 39.03 billion by 2032 (CAGR: 6.18%). A third analysis by Valuates Reports places the CAGR even higher, at 8.9% between 2024 and 2030.

What accelerates changes?

These differences reflect variations in methodology, market segmentation, and baseline year. But all analyses point to the same conclusion: parenteral products packaging is entering a phase of accelerated growth.

What’s behind this acceleration? Several factors stand out:

• Biologics and personalized therapies: new treatments are increasingly tailored to individual patient profiles, requiring smaller batch sizes and more flexible production models.
• Global access to injectables: demand is increasing in developing markets and among patients who self-administer medications at home, especially for chronic conditions.
• Chronic disease burden: the prevalence of diabetes, cancer, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases continues to rise, especially in ageing populations.
• Sterile supply chain demands: the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for more resilient, flexible, and contamination-proof production and distribution systems.

The expansion is not evenly distributed. North America currently leads the market in both production capacity and regulatory influence. Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region, driven by healthcare infrastructure development and population size. When it comes to materials, glass remains important for primary parenteral packaging due to its chemical inertness, transparency, and ability to withstand sterilization.

Parenteral products are so demanding

Parenteral packaging is unlike any other. These are drugs of varying values, sometimes worth thousands of euros per dose, and are often temperature-sensitive. They require specialized containers such as vials, ampoules, prefilled syringes, or cartridges, all of which must be labeled and tracked. Because of the high risk associated with breakage or mislabeling, production environments must be tightly controlled.

At the same time, batch sizes are decreasing due to drug individualization, while SKU variety increases. A line may need to switch between different types of products within hours, each requiring different labels and handling. Regulatory complexity adds further pressure: serialization, human-readable content, and code verification must all be handled on increasingly limited label surfaces.

Parenteral labeling is a focal point for today’s production challenges

The label is where all this complexity comes together. In parenteral packaging production, it must:

• Display dense information (batch, expiry, codes) on a small area
• Remain legible and durable through sterilization and transport
• Be traceable, compliant with international standards
• Integrate with digital systems for automated verification
• Keep up with high-speed production, without compromising quality

At the same time, manufacturers are under pressure to streamline operations and cut carbon emissions, a goal that extends to packaging. This means eliminating waste, reducing inventory, and moving toward leaner, digitally driven workflows.

These challenges are not solvable with legacy systems. Instead, they require a different approach, one where label customization becomes part of the production flow, not an external step.

Inline digital printing enables this. By integrating directly into the packaging line, it allows manufacturers to:

• Print labels on demand, reducing overstock and waste
• Adjust instantly to batch changes
• Minimize manual interventions in the graphics chain
• Ensure consistent quality even at high speed
• Enable full traceability across the supply chain

How Hapa supports this shift

At Hapa, we’ve spent decades working with pharma manufacturers to solve real packaging problems. Our role extends past the hardware itself: we help our partners navigate the technical, regulatory, and operational complexity of labeling in fast-moving, high-stakes environments.

One of our latest solutions, the H863 labeljet, was designed specifically for narrow-web labels and high-speed parenteral applications. It integrates seamlessly into existing lines, enabling sharp, abrasion-resistant printing that withstands the demands of sterilization and logistics. More importantly, it fits into a digitalized, secure labeling workflow, one that minimizes human error and supports faster, more efficient operations.

Reframing the label as a strategic tool

When so much depends on the label (regulatory compliance, patient safety, traceability, even sustainability) it's clear that label customization can no longer be treated as a back-end task. It is a critical, visible outcome of how well a pharmaceutical company has adapted its operations to today’s demands. And at Hapa, we’re proud to help make that adaptation possible.

Facing complexity in labeling parenteral products? Talk to Hapa to discover how our inline printing solutions and pharma-specific expertise can help you reduce risk, improve agility, and prepare for what’s next.