Vaccine Storage and Packaging Market

Market Overview

The global vaccine storage and packaging market size was valued at USD 4,139.57 million in 2022. It is estimated to reach USD 8,220.01 million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 7.92% during the forecast period (2023–2031).

The appropriate storage, packaging, and handling of vaccines are essential facets of immunization. The efficacy of communicable disease campaigns can be assigned partly to satisfy the vaccine storage, packaging, and handling. When a vaccine is stored in conditions that are too hot or cold, it becomes less efficient or, in some cases, even inactive, meaning its usage becomes unsafe. Most vaccines require refrigerated storage between 2 degrees Celsius and 8 degrees Celsius. Some vaccines necessitate temperatures as cold as -20 degrees Celsius, whereas some newer vaccines must be stored in ultra-cold temperatures of -70 degrees Celsius.

Vaccines are required to reach all corners of the world while maintaining their potency, so proper cold chain storage becomes necessary in the vaccine transportation process. Moreover, the vaccine's packaging should be in an accurately designed and manufactured material like vials, ampoules, or corrugated boxes. Packaging of vaccines takes place at all levels, which are primary (vials, ampoules, etc.), secondary (vaccine carton boxes), and tertiary (insulated outer packaging layer). Therefore, the suppliers should ensure that the patients receive the full benefit of vaccines by implementing the best storage, packaging, and handling practices.

Highlights

• Vaccine packaging dominates the type segment
• Pharma and biotech companies dominate the end-user segment
• Europe is the highest shareholder in the global market

Market Dynamics

Global Vaccine Storage and Packaging Market Drivers

Prevalence of Infectious Diseases and Immunology Disorders

In recent years, the rapid spread of severe infections such as SARS, Ebola, and HIV has highlighted the need for global preparedness for pandemics, which leads to extremely rapid development and extensive distribution of vaccines. This forces pharmaceutical manufacturers to speed up their vaccine manufacturing process to meet urgent demands. Hence, the storage of vaccines becomes necessary from the moment they are manufactured until they are dispensed.

Additionally, diphtheria is a severe infectious disease of the upper respiratory system. In 2018, countries reported more than 16,000 cases of diphtheria to the WHO, and there are likely many more cases. Polio is another prevailing disease that is boosting the need for vaccination. During January-July 2020, about 41 wild poliovirus cases were informed in Afghanistan compared to 15 in the same period in 2019. Further, a current epidemic of poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) resulted in 69 cases so far in 2020. The re-emergence and prevalence of such infectious diseases are prompting a scaling up of the manufacturing of vaccines, consequently driving the demand for vaccine freezers to store the vaccine and vaccine packaging material, driving the market's growth.

Outbreak of COVID-19

The outbreak of COVID-19 affected billions of lives, posing critical challenges to vaccine manufacturers, healthcare systems, packaging scientists, and daily public activity. Biotechnological advances have allowed increased production of vaccines however, the success of an effective immunization mainly depends on the safe and timely delivery of vaccines. Packaging is crucial in protecting, transporting, distributing, and preserving vaccines. Due to the constant efforts from R&D centers, vaccine manufacturers, and other scientific organizations, there has been a timely development of vaccines and effective supply chains for delivering the same.

A vaccine can be created, but immunization will be unsuccessful with proper storage and packaging throughout the entire supply chain successful. The vaccine for COVID-19 is being produced in higher amounts than ever required with the help of contract manufacturers. Therefore, the outbreak of COVID-19 boosted not only the demand for contract manufacturers but also the demand for vials, ampoules, vaccine freezers, refrigerators, blister packaging, bubble wraps, and other vaccine storage and packaging products. Such factors are driving the demand for vaccine storage and its packaging across the globe.

Global Vaccine Storage and Packaging Market Restraint

Significant Capital Investment

Establishing new vaccines is progressively complicated and costly, yet it brings several challenges. The resources required to expand the supply chain facility and better facilitate healthcare workers to distribute, store, and manage vaccines are scarce. With the need for external resources, there is hesitance toward substantial capital investments in vaccine supply chain systems. In addition, the prices of immunization have gone from single digits to sometimes triple digits over the last two decades, creating problems for clinicians and their patients and draining the budgets of public health systems. In the US, large modern hospitals scaled up to buy costly ultra-cold freezers to store COVID-19 vaccines. But for most rural hospitals, it is not affordable to buy these high-end units. Thus, the high cost of cold storage products is anticipated to impede the growth of the vaccine storage and packaging market.

Global Vaccine Storage and Packaging Market Opportunities

Strong Portfolio of Key Companies for the COVID-19 Vaccine

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread profoundly across the globe, manufacturers have begun to research and develop vaccines to prevent its spread. Since COVID-19 vaccines are temperature sensitive, they must be stored and handled correctly to ensure their potency and shelf life. Indian glass vial makers are prepared to meet any potential demand from pharmaceutical companies to supply COVID-19 vaccines and drugs. In addition, global health experts are concerned that there are enough glass bottles to pack billions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Furthermore, Schott Kaisha is a joint venture between the German specialty glass manufacturer Schott and the Indian company KAISHA MANUFACTURERS, converting tubular glass into vials, ampoules, and syringes with a total capacity of 3 billion. Demand is expected to increase as companies compete to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Schott is one of the world's largest borosilicate glass manufacturers for manufacturing tubular vials and ampoules. Together with Schott, Corning, and Nipro are leading the global production of tubular glass. Therefore, the robust portfolio of cold storage and packaging providers for the COVID-19 vaccine will provide great opportunities, leading to the growth of the global vaccine storage and packaging market in the coming years.

Regional Analysis

Europe Dominates the Global Market

Based on region, the global vaccine storage and packaging market is bifurcated into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.

Europe is the most significant global vaccine storage and packaging market shareholder and is anticipated to exhibit a CAGR of 7.67% during the forecast period. The rising number of vaccines manufactured in the region, growing acceptance and awareness among the population, increasing demand for COVID-19 vaccine, and growing government initiatives are propelling Europe's global vaccine storage and packaging market. Europe is one of the largest vaccine importers. In addition, Germany had over 1 million doses of unused immunizations when their need was so great, partly due to people's reluctance to use them. All vaccines are sensitive to heat and must be appropriately stored and distributed in an effective cold chain.

Furthermore, in order to maintain the quality of cold chains in the WHO European region, the WHO and Europe supported the evaluation of national cold chains and logistics systems. These assessments highlighted the system's management elements that need improvement. These needs are being met at the regional and national levels through targeted training seminars on vaccine inventory management, monitoring storage protocols, maintenance of the cold chain, equipment requirements, and other related subjects, as well as vaccine and cold chain management.

North America is estimated to exhibit a CAGR of 7.88% over the forecast period. The population of North America was 3 million in August 2021, based on the latest UN estimates. North America's population equals 4.73% of the world population. In addition, North America's birth rate in 2021 was 11.813 births per 1000 people. The need for immunization arises with an increasing number of newborns in the region. Immunization is the best way to protect your child against many dangerous diseases. In Canada, vaccines prevent illnesses such as tetanus, pertussis, diphtheria, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, rotavirus, measles, mumps, hepatitis B, pneumococcal and meningococcal diseases, rubella, chickenpox, and human papillomavirus. Influenza (flu) vaccine is also suggested yearly for children older than six months. Therefore, the emerging demand for vaccines is fueling the growth of the global vaccine storage and packaging market.

Infectious diseases such as malaria are still a problem in the Asia-Pacific region, as the number of malaria cases has increased in the past decade. As among the most populous countries in the world, India had the highest number of malaria cases in the entire region in 2017. Other life-threatening infectious diseases in the region include HIV and tuberculosis, which need efficient vaccination, stimulating the market's growth. Immunization is one of the greatest success stories in modern medicine. It can prevent 2-3 million deaths from infectious diseases of different age groups and types of infection each year, such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, flu, and measles. In addition, COVID-19 showed the importance of immunization. Immunization against all vaccine-preventable diseases, including influenza, is essential for healthy aging. However, immunization throughout life, or routine vaccination at different stages of life other than pediatric vaccines, is an underutilized public health intervention in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region, thereby hampering the market growth in the region.

The prevalence of infectious diseases in Latin America is high compared to other regions. However, the government is taking corrective measures to raise awareness regarding immunization among people. The organization of National Immunization Day (NID) in all polio-endemic Latin American countries was one of the critical factors that led to the interruption of wild poliovirus transmission in the Americas in 1991. National initiatives for using similar strategies to control or eliminate measles originated in the successful organization of NID to eradicate polio. They laid the foundation for the definitive global eradication of this important cause of child death. Such factors are estimated to fuel regional market growth.

Segmental Analysis

The global vaccine storage packaging market is segmented by type and end-user.

Based on type, the global vaccine storage and packaging market is bifurcated into vaccine packaging and vaccine storage. 

The vaccine packaging segment dominates the global market and is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 7.71% over the forecast period. In the healthcare sector, the packaging of pharmaceutical products plays a vital role in keeping vaccines and medicines safe from bacterial growth and contamination. WHO requires healthcare manufacturers to pack and ship the vaccines in an insulated box to protect the vaccines from exposure to extreme temperatures and physical damage during international transportation. Thus, the vaccines are kept cool during transport with the use of coolant packs that are packed inside the shipping unit. In addition, vaccine manufacturers must ensure that their packaging follows the appropriate temperature criteria. The solution must be re-qualified if any changes are introduced in the packaging after its qualification. Further, the vaccine packaging segment is bifurcated into products and layers of packaging. Based on the product, the packaging segment is divided into vials, ampoules, corrugated boxes, and others. In contrast, based on layers of packaging, the market is segmented into primary, secondary, and tertiary layers.

Proper vaccine storage and handling are the most significant factors in preventing and removing many common vaccine-preventable diseases. The storage of vaccines must be precisely monitored from when they are manufactured until they are administered. As contact with unacceptable conditions may affect the efficiency of refrigerated vaccines, a single exposure to freezing temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or colder can destroy the vaccine's effectiveness. Usually, liquid vaccines with an adjuvant can permanently lose influence when they are exposed to freezing temperatures. Therefore, ensuring the quality of the vaccine and maintaining the cold chain or its storage are shared responsibilities among distributors, public health staff, manufacturers, and healthcare providers. The facility must have a proper vaccine storage and monitoring device. The vaccine storage is further segmented into refrigerators, freezers, and others.

Based on the end-user, the global vaccine storage and packaging market is segmented into healthcare facilities, pharma and biotech companies, and others. 

The pharma and biotech companies segment owns the highest market share and is estimated to exhibit a CAGR of 8.42% during the forecast period. Pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies, especially manufacturers of vaccines, require storing vaccines in cold storage in ultra-low-temperature freezers. This storage will help maintain the vaccine's potency and reduce the risk of perishing. With the growing population and their ever-changing lifestyle, the prevalence of infectious diseases is also increasing. Therefore, pharmaceutical companies are scaling up their vaccine manufacturing process. This fuels the demand for vaccine storage equipment such as freezers and refrigerators and their proper handling. In addition, some key players in the vaccine freezers and refrigerators market include Philipp Kirsch, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Helmer Scientific, B Medical Systems, and others.

The healthcare industry has developed rapidly in recent years, and there is a trend for further development. The rapid growth of technology in this field can provide new treatments and improve the living conditions of millions of people. The complexity of the services offered by hospitals and specialist clinics is related to increasingly modern equipment and technologies and the development of new drugs. In many cases, refrigeration and climate control have become essential resources for implementing procedures and keeping the most diverse materials in ideal conditions. Therefore, there is a strong demand for equipment maintenance services that can provide adequate temperatures for different environments and products used in medical institutions.

Recent Developments

• March 2023- To meet the growing demand for the transportation of vaccines, temperature-sensitive biologics, and time-sensitive cell and gene therapies, Peli BioThermal announced the expansion of its Crēdo shipper range for deep frozen payload protection.
• September 2022- Catalent is again expanding its clinical supply facility in Singapore. A USD 2.2 million investment in this round will add 31,000 square feet to the existing floor space, a 20% increase. It will make room for adding 35 freezers with extremely low temperatures.