Top experts from the packaging industry discuss and debate on hot topics relevant to the Indian pharma packaging industry in the current times
The first day of Express Pharma’s PPL Conclave 2020, held in Hyderabad from February 13-14, ended on a high note as top experts from the packaging industry discussed and debated on the hot topics relevant to the Indian pharmaceutical packaging industry in the current times.
“The pharma industry is undergoing disruptions as never before. The pharma packaging industry needs to up its ante to continuously improve and meet changing demands,” said Chakravarthi AVPS, Global Ambassador, World Packaging Organisation as he addressed the audience during the first session of the evening.
Following Chakravarthi’s special address was a talk on SelfDose, a self-injection device by Shraddha Sharma, Marketing Manager, West Pharmaceuticals Packaging – India. Calling SelfDose a new-age product of ‘Smart Dosers’ for patient control drug delivery, Sharma informed the audience that the device can help with needle phobia and reduce needle induced anxiety in patients by the virtue of its easy to use design. Her presentation was followed by a talk on ‘Innovative, compliance-driven sustainable packaging solutions’ by Manoj KM, Director – Business Development and International Business, Avery Dennison.
One of the major highlights of the evening was a panel discussion on the topic, ‘Capturing value through packaging’. Moderated by Chakravarthi, the panel had Ashok Bhattacharya, Executive Director, Takeda India; Yugal Sikri, MD, RPG Life Sciences; Shantanu Chowdhury, Sr GM, Sun Pharma; Abhijit Chatterjee, Director – Packaging, Lupin; Tripti Nakhare, Sr GM – Regulatory Affairs, FDC and Viveka Roychowdhury, Editor, Express Pharma. The panel discussed the various challenges that the pharma packaging industry faces today and the disruptive innovations beginning to arrive on the scene. The discussion reached some really insightful conclusions on patient compliance and satisfaction, sustainable packaging, etc.
The discussion was then followed by a session on the topic ‘Disruptive innovations in packaging’ by Ramaiah Muthusubramanian, CEO, Packfora. Next up was a session on ‘The combination of serialisation and business intelligence’ by Gianluca Cocuzzo, Area Sales Manager, Marchesini Sea Vision. Sandeep Vadakattu, General Manager, Domino Printech spoke about improving packing lines efficiencies with suitable coding technologies.
Ajay Bapat of Propix Technology, who spoke on the topic ‘Capturing value through packaging….Post serialization perspective’, said, “A platform needs to be created to connect with all network partners.” He also highlighted the need for digitalisation of manual processes, inventory visibility on the dashboard, securing the complete supply chain and real-time data exchange, which can help boost packaging value.
The second-panel discussion had Dr Sanjit Singh Lamba, MD, Eisai India as the moderator; Mohan Mone, Pharma Consultant; Saravanan Jeyabalan T, Associate Director-Packaging Development, Biocon and Soumyanath Mishra, Head-I, Packaging Research Development, Aurobindo Pharma. The panellists discussed on ‘Parenteral packaging: Evolution and revolutions’. The discussion provided the audience with various insights into the recent developments in parenteral packaging. According to the panellists, material selection is a significant factor in parenteral packaging which will ensure stability and safety of the product, ensure patient convenience and safeguard the efficacy of the drug, the panellists concluded.
The event concluded with an award ceremony that recognised upcoming leaders and innovators for their outstanding contribution to the development of the Indian packaging industry.