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Smart labels market (for healthcare and pharmaceutical industry) is estimated to be $3.7 million in 2023 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 16% during the forecast period. The annual golobal market for counterfeit drugs is estimated to be $200 billion and this value is believed to be expanding rapidly. As per a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), 20% of counterfeit pharmaceuticals include an incorrect amount of the active ingredient, while 30% of the counterfeit drugs contain no active ingredient at all. Such illegal practices are likely to endanger the lives of the patients, as well as tarnish the developer company's reputation. In order to overcome the aforementioned concerns, label service providers have strengthened the ongoing labelling practices and are shifting towards smart labelling technologies, which is a part of the intelligent packaging market. Smart labels, also known as tags, offer several benefits, such as track and trace the products in a supply chain, and tamper proofing, discouraging counterfeiters from packaging fake drugs. In this context, it is worth mentioning that the smart labelling technology is expected to save $0.8 - 1.5 million per year per company, through their applications in inventory management. Despite numerous growth drivers for adopting smart label technologies, there are some factors that may hinder their immediate uptake. These include high price of integrating the technology as well as lack of well-established regulatory standards across the globe. Such considerations may also prevent investment opportunities for smart label technologies. It is worth highlighting that, in the recent years, consortiums, such as GS1 standards and RAIN Alliance, have been established to standardize global regulations.
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The Smart Labels Market for Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Industry by Type of Technology (RFID, NFC and Other Technologies), Type of Packaging (Primary Packaging and Secondary Packaging), Type of Primary Packaging (Vials, Syringes, Cartridges, Ampoules, Bottles and Blister Packs), Type of Secondary Packaging (Boxes, Cartons and Pouches) and Key Geographical Regions (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, MENA and Latin America) - Industry Trends and Global Forecasts, 2022-2035 report features an extensive study of the current market landscape, market size and future opportunities associated with the smart labels, offering in-depth analyses of the various business entities engaged in this industry, across key global regions. 0The market report answers many key questions related to the industry:
The smart label manufacturers landscape features a mix of large, mid-sized and small companies, which have the required expertise to offer smart labels based on various technologies, such as RFID, NFC (near field communication) and other advanced technologies that enable tracking of products throughout the supply chain. It is worth highlighting that more than 40% of the label manufacturers are based in North America.
Over 80 manufacturers are developing RFID smart labels for a wide range of applications. These RFID tags are classified as passive RFID tags or active RFID tags. These tags are further classified on the type of RFID frequency band. The most popularly offered tags are the ultra-high frequency / UHF RFID labels, with nearly 68% of the manufacturers offering this product for pharmaceutical applications. Pharmaceutical companies such as Hanmi Pharmaceutical are using RAIN RFID tags from Impinj containing an Impinj Monza tag chip to track each product through the supply chain.
Smart labels market for pharmaceutical and healthcare applications is estimated to be $ 3.7 billion in 2023. Driven by the rise in demand for pharmaceutical drugs and need for improved tracking mechanisms, the future opportunities and growth associated with this market are anticipated to witness a noteworthy growth in the foreseen future. The global market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 16% during the forecast period. Specifically, in terms of type of label technology, the market is dominated by RFID smart labels and this trend is unlikely to change in the future.
The majority share of revenues is likely to be driven by companies offering smart labels for primary packaging to prevent counterfeit of drugs. Presently, within primary packaging, syringes dominate the smart labels market. This can be attributed to the fact there is significantly higher demand for syringes as it is considered the most preferred primary packaging container for the delivery of drugs / biologics across the globe. It is worth highlighting, in November 2022, Schreiner MediPharm and Schott Pharma partnered to develop a smart label, using RFID technology, for prefilled syringes. Another company, NP Plastibell launched a smart prefilled syringe which comprises an embedded NFC tag from STMicroelectronics. The near field communication RFID tag does not require battery to operate but is powered by close proximity of the NFC reader. Vials, cartridges and blister packs are other prominent primary packaging containers that are anticipated to witness significant market growth during the forecast period.
RFID tag manufacturers are working on developing smaller RFID labels which can allow item level track and trace within the pharmaceutical supply chain. In February 2022, Avery Dennison Smartrac launched its Minidose U9 RAIN RFID inlay, which it claims to be the smallest smart label in the market for pharmaceutical applications. As the pharmaceutical industry continues to adopt smarter technologies, IoT based smart labels are becoming widely accepted as they enable more functionality than regular smart labels. In order to promote its use and ensure adequate safety for the consumers (beyond healthcare use), the government agencies around the globe, such as Singapore, Germany and Finland have already instituted legislation for IoT security labels. The US intends to launch IoT security labels by Spring 2023. This is likely to increase the adoption of such new technologies in the pharmaceutical industry as well.
Such recent developments in this segment of the intelligent packaging industry indicate that the smart label providers are upgrading their existing portfolio and intellectual capital to accommodate the current and anticipated demand for such competitive products.
Owing to need to minimize the impact of counterfeited drugs and reduce medication errors occurring due to poor labelling and unclear packaging, pharmaceutical and biotech drug developers have gradually adopted the use of smart labels for their packaging requirements.
Further, growing popularity of smart labels in the healthcare sector can be attributed to their ability to safely collect patient data, act as an anti-counterfeit solution and provide better security for pharmaceuticals.
Examples of key companies engaged in this industry (which have also been captured in this report) include CCL Industries, Schreiner, Datalogic, Tadbik, SATO Asia Pacific, Invengo, Intellhydro Technology, RFiD Discovery and ID Tech Solutions.
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Several recent developments have taken place in the field of smart labels. We have outlined some of these recent initiatives below. These developments, even if they took place post the release of our market report, substantiate the overall market trends that have been outlined in our analysis.
The market report presents an in-depth analysis of the various firms / organizations that are engaged in this industry, across different segments as defined in the below table:
Market Segments | Details | |
Base Year |
2021 |
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Forecast Period |
2022 – 2035 |
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Market Size (2022) |
$3.5 billion |
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CAGR |
16% |
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Type of Technology |
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Type of Packaging |
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Type of Primary Packaging |
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Type of Secondary Packaging |
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Key Geographical Regions |
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The research report presents an in-depth analysis, highlighting the capabilities of various stakeholders engaged in this market, across different geographies. Amongst other elements, the market report includes:
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One of the key objectives of the market report was to understand the primary growth drivers and estimate the future size of the smart labels market for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry, over the forecast period. We have provided informed estimates on the evolution of the market in the short to mid-term and mid to long term, for the period 2022-2035. Additionally, our year-wise projections of the current and future opportunity have been segmented based on relevant parameters, such as [A] type of technology (RFID Labels, NFC Labels and other Labels), [B] type of packaging (primary packaging and secondary packaging), [C] type of primary packaging (vials, syringes, cartridges, ampoules, bottles and blister packs), [D] type of secondary packaging (boxes, cartons and pouches) and [E] key geographical regions (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, MENA and Latin America). In order to account for future uncertainties and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three market forecast scenarios, namely conservative, base and optimistic scenarios, representing different tracks of the industry’s growth.
All actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available information forums and primary research discussions. Financial figures mentioned in this report are in USD, unless otherwise specified.