Biopharma plastic market to reach USD 15.95 billion by 2023

The usage of biopharma plastics has expanded its footprint in versatile industry verticals due to the developing technologies in the markets. Manufacturers are interested in investing in the research and development of biopharma plastics to boost the downstream usability of these materials in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, packaging, and others.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the biopharma plastics market. With an immense requirement from the hospitals for biopharma plastic-based products, such as syringes, gloves, and masks, there has been a surging demand for biopharma plastic polymers.

Biopharma plastics are being utilised for providing higher stability to several applications including depth filters, syringes, and containers of PP, PE, PET, PTFE, and ABS.

In conversation with WhatPackaging? team at the fifth annual packaging quality and innovations summit 2023, Suman Kumar, head injectables packaging development, Macleods Pharmaceuticals said, “Last year, the device market globally was USD 495-bn and India itself is contributing currently USD 8-bn. And, it has been estimated to reach USD 10-bn in India.”

The global biopharma plastics market is being driven by prominent factors such as a rise in the incidence of chronic illnesses such as cancer and diabetes, as well as the increasing global adoption of single-use plastics.

Rapid advancements by prominent players toward constant innovations backed by technologies in the field of biopharmaceuticals act as one of the major factors strongly supporting the global growth of the biopharma plastics market.

Due to a large population, Asia Pacific has demand and manufacturing capacity. It is expected to deliver impressive outcomes in the global biopharma plastics market. A large amount of investment, significant government meddling in the healthcare sector, and significant development in the developing economy all contribute to increased demand for biopharma plastics.

Accounting for more than 21.5% share of the overall revenue in 2023, polyvinyl chloride has the ability to undergo many processes without breaking or cracking. It is extremely flexible, resistant, and can easily withstand high temperatures, making it suitable for the production of syringes, disposable connectors, depth filters, and other applications of biopharma plastics.

The presence of large-scale PP moulding facilities and the manufacturing sector is projected to propel the market growth over the forecast period. Other polymer types such as polyethene and polytetrafluoroethylene are mainly used in various applications owing to their properties such as gloss, durability, and detergent resistance. All these factors are likely to boost market growth over the forecast period.

Based on application, the global biopharma plastics market can be categorised into protective wear, container, bioreactor bags, syringes, depth filters, disposable medical connectors, and others. The syringes segment accounts for a market share of 20.2% through 2023. The increasing demand for prefilled syringes owing to their usage convenience, low costs, minimal microbial contamination, low injection errors, and dilution errors is expected to boost the growth of the market.

BASF-SE, LyondellBasell, SABIC, LG Chem, Toray, Solvay, Dow, DuPont de Nemours, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, and Tekni-Plex are some of the key players in the biopharma plastics industry.

The manufacturers are involved in the production of biopharma plastics in a larger capacity. Research and innovation are also conducted to launch innovative plastics for biopharmaceutical products. Also, some key players are acquiring small pharmaceutical companies to increase their production capacity.