| By Linda Yao, Asia Manufacturing Pharma |
| Tuesday, 03 June 2008 |
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Since 2007, international oil prices have repeatedly hit record highs, directly resulting in the increases in prices of pharmaceutical packing materials and excipients, including pharmaceutical glass bottles, |
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non-PVC soft bags, aluminum foil, PVC board, butyl rubber stoppers and capsule shells. Prices for pharmaceutical excipients such as gelatin and glycerine, for instance, have seen a more than 50 percent rise from a year ago.
Such increases, coupled with rising labor and energy costs, are imposing undue pressure on China’s pharmaceutical packing and excipient producers in terms of production costs.
In face of the pressure, all producers are aggressively taking measures to deal with it, and many of them are attempting to do so by launching new products with substantially higher profit margins. |
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At the 60th API China, almost all capsule shell exhibitors unveiled new capsule products made of plant-derived cellulose instead of animal gelatin.
Plant cellulose-based capsule shells have gained much popularity in recent years with their environmentally friendly features. In addition, they are low in water content, providing higher humidity resistance, and are free from the risk of crosslinking reaction associated with animal gelatin. Moreover, some of capsule shell producers even launched halal capsules aimed especially at the Muslim market. Prices for these new capsule shells, however, are higher. For example, plant cellulose-based capsules are two to three times more expensive than animal gelatin ones.
In the medical coating industry, nano-coating is proving to be a highly effective way for the coating producers to relieve cost pressure,
while in the infusion container sector, glass bottles are gradually being replaced with cost-efficient non-PVC |
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soft bags.
Today, China’s home-made pharmaceutical packing materials are spotty in quality and vary widely in price, and the market is noted for its low concentration ratio as well. To standardize the market, the Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission on February 3 announced a plan to launch an amended Chinese Pharmacopoeia in 2010, in which gelatin for capsule use, capsule shells and algal polysaccharides-based capsule shells will all be included.
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APIs contract manufacturer Asymchem holds ground breaking ceremony for its new plant in Jilin
China Pharmaceutical Packing Association (CPPA) holds seminar with rubber stopper producers
Demand for hard capsules in China expected to grow by 15 to 20 per cent annually |
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