Thermo-Sensitive Pharmaceuticals Form Hottest Growth Sector of Global Medicines Market

Cedex, France: – The medicine market is enjoying strong growth, led by increased sales of a new generation of heat-sensitive products whose medicinal properties must be preserved with temperature control.

The trend is confirmed by figures just released by the French-based French cold chain shipping specialist Sofrigam S.A., which is a global leader in temperature-controlled logistics.

Sofrigam has collated figures that indicate the worldwide market of thermo-sensitive pharmaceuticals is now set to pass one billion dollars during 2014, a near 20 per cent increase since 2012, when it was valued at $880m and a 400 per cent increase over the past decade.

Sofrigam research also reveals:
• The main consumers of thermally sensitive medicines and biopharmaceuticals are North America and Europe, which together account for more than 60 per cent of the global market.
• The United States is the single greatest consumer of medicines with 38% of the global market.
• Germany and France dominate the European market, together accounting for 18% of global total for cool-chain products.

These figures can be set against the background of an overall pharmaceutical industry that has shown consistent six percent annual growth.

Sofrigam says this overall growth can be explained by the increase in the number of people suffering from diseases and health issues such as:
• Diabetes: there are 171 million diabetics in the world, and this figure should double by 2030.
• Obesity: 1.4 billion people are obese and this figure should reach 3.3 billion by 2030.
• Cancer: One woman in 20 has breast cancer, while one man in 12 has some form of cancer.
• Alzheimer’s: 18 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s, expected to reach 35 million by 2025.

Sofrigam says: “As treatments are developed for these growing illnesses, the market share of heat-sensitive medicines will also grow, for several reasons: pharmaceutical lab mergers and acquisitions, development of R&D departments, the proportion of existing patents (40 to 60 per cent) entering the public domain, strong growth of the global generic market, increasing availability for patients of targeted products developed by biotechnology.”

Cool Chain Growth
These overall trends are likely to increase the need for temperature-controlled packaging solutions for shipping heat-sensitive medicines, says Sofrigam.

“On the one hand, pharmaceutical companies must choose high-performance cold chain packaging that guarantees the medicinal properties of the products shipped, like our Frizbox® temperature-controlled pallet shipper that guarantees cold chain integrity for shipping large volumes all over the world,” according to Sofrigam Marketing Director, Laetitia Perche.

“On the other hand, it will impose new responsibilities on pharmaceutical companies to inform patients and equip them for safe transportation of their heat-sensitive medicines,” says Ms. Perche.

For these individual transport needs, Sofrigam has now developed its new Nomad® range of insulated pouches cooling bags and sachets.

About Sofrigam

French company, Sofrigam S.A. designs and manufactures cool chain shipping solutions and insulated boxes for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries as well as for distribution and logistics companies.

The company was founded in 1979 by an industrial pharmacist and initially developed eutectic painkillers before specializing in the design and manufacture of insulated and refrigerated packaging, including pre-qualified insulated shipping solutions. The company is headquartered in Ile-de-France with a production site at Arras.

Sofrigam offer solutions for the cold chain consignment problems experienced by the pharmaceutical industry. It offers a range of standard and made-to-measure cooling packaging products as well as customized services designed to achieve secure, cost effective and ecological cold chain logistics.

Sofrigam has become one of Europe’s leading cold chain specialists, sharing its expertise via seminars, publications and R&D collaborations. It also offers customized products and services designed to achieve cold logistics that are secure, cost-effective and comprehensively compliant.

Contact
Sofrigam S.A
Laetitia Perche, Marketing Director
Tel: +33 (0) 1 46 69 85 43
Email: [email protected]

For more information about temperature-controlled packaging solutions for shipping heat-sensitive medicines, please contact Sofrigam directly.