Smart Labels Market by Type of Technology, Type of Packaging, Type of Primary Packaging, Type of Secondary Packaging and Key Geographical Regions - Industry Trends and Global Forecasts, 2022-2035

The annual market for counterfeit drugs is estimated to be USD 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. A smart label comprises of printed information, a bar code identifier and a small transponder. This transponder contains a processing chip and an antenna that allows physical objects to communicate with the tag reader (for instance, RFID reader). Smart labels offer several benefits, such as tracing and tracking products in a supply chain, and tamper proofing, discouraging counterfeit drugs packaging. In this context, it is worth mentioning that the smart labelling technology is expected to save USD 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 the immediate uptake of smart label technologies. 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. 

At present, various types of smart labels, including radio frequency identification device labels (RFID), internet of things (IoT) labels, bluetooth labels and others, are being deployed across various applications in the pharmaceutical and healthcare markets; these include supply chain management, asset tracking, patient tracking and clinical trial labelling. Currently, more than 90 companies are engaged in providing these labels for various applications. In addition, with an aim to diversify their area of application and enhance their existing product portfolios, players engaged in providing smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels are actively collaborating with other industry stakeholders. It is also worth mentioning that over 400 patents related to smart labels have been filed / granted, highlighting the continuous pace of innovation in this field. Driven by the growing demand for authentic and efficient drugs and ongoing efforts of players to integrate sophisticated features in the product design and affiliated technology, the smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels market is likely to witness noteworthy growth over the coming years.

Scope of the Report

The “Smart Labels Market (Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Labels) 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 and future opportunities associated with the smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels, offering in-depth analyses of the various business entities engaged in this domain, across different segments.

Amongst other elements, the report includes:

• A brief overview of smart labels, along with the information on their role and advantages in healthcare sector, along with details on the types of smart labels, featuring their applications in the pharmaceutical and healthcare domain. In addition, it includes a discussion on various challenges associated with the adoption of smart labels, future perspectives, and the factors driving the smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels industry.
• A detailed review of the overall landscape of players engaged in the smart pharmaceutical and healthcare label providers domain, along with information on type of technology (including RFID labels, Bluetooth labels, sensing labels and IoT labels), RFID frequency band (low frequency, high frequency, NFC and ultra-high frequency and unspecified) and area(s) of application (supply chain management, asset tracking, patient centricity, patient tracking, payment tracking, product authentication, clinical trial labelling, blood bag management, other application(s))
• A detailed competitiveness analysis of companies engaged in the development of smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels, based on their supplier strength (in terms of years of experience and company size), service strength (based on the type of area(s) of application and type of RFID frequency band) and portfolio strength (in terms of number of technology).
• Elaborate profiles of prominent players (shortlisted on the basis of number of application area and company size) that claim to specialize in offering smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels. Each profile features a brief overview of the company, along with information on their year of establishment, number of employees, location of headquarters, key executives, as well as details related to their smart labels focused portfolio, recent developments and an informed future outlook.
• An in-depth analysis of patents related to smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels that have been filed / granted till date, based on several relevant parameters, such as type of patent, publication year, geographical location / patent jurisdiction, legal status, CPC symbols, type of industry, type of applicant and leading players (in terms of number of patents filed / granted). In addition, it features a patent valuation analysis which evaluates the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the patents filed / granted in this industry.
• A detailed analysis of the partnerships and collaborations inked in the domain, during the period 2018-2022, based on several parameters, such as year of partnership, type of partnership, most active player and region.
• A detailed analysis of the current and future market based on blue ocean strategy, covering a strategic plan / guide for emerging players in this domain to help unlock an uncontested market, featuring thirteen strategic tools that can help software developers to shift towards a blue ocean strategic market.
• A detailed discussion on affiliated trends, key drivers and challenges, under a SWOT framework, which are likely to impact the industry’s evolution, along with a Harvey ball analysis, highlighting the relative effect of each SWOT parameter on the overall smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels market.

One of the key objectives of the report was to understand the primary growth drivers and estimate the future size of the smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels market, over the coming years. 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who are the leading players engaged in the development of smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels?
• What is the relative competitiveness of different smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels providers?
• Which type of partnership models are most commonly being adopted by stakeholders engaged in this domain?
• What are the key strategies that can be implemented by emerging players / start-ups to enter the highly competitive market for smart labels?
• Which companies are actively filing patents to drive innovation in the field of smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels?
• What are the key challenges associated within the smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels market?
• What is the current / likely future market size of smart pharmaceutical and healthcare labels?

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