Some markets are seeing greater demand for preservative-free products. Dr Degenhard Marx and Matthias Birkhoff, Aptar Pharma Radolfzell, discuss the opportunities and technology.
Multi-dose dispensers are widely used for liquid medications because of convenience and cost effectiveness. As of today, most of the available dispensing devices are designed to contain preserved formulations, but for some years now so-called ‘preservative-free multi-dose devices’ (PFMD) have been on the market and have gained substantial share. It is estimated that out of 220 million metering nasal spray pumps for nasal decongestants sold worldwide in 2011, one third were PFMD.
The driver behind this is the growing number of patients who experienced discomfort with preserved formulations – something that attracted the scrutiny of the responsible authorities. Also, scientific data and clinical findings suggest that preservatives are not completely harmless. So for many brands the classic preserved product can be found next to a ‘preservative-free’ label.
It is hard to provide precise figures on PFMD, especially as there are some geographical market preferences. The European authorities have started to tip the balance in favour of unpreserved medications; however, the US and Asian authorities still like preservatives. Thus the largest markets for preservative-free multi-dose devices are Europe, in particular Germany and France, and Latin America.
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