Medical Device Link.

Originally Published PMPN February 2004

OTC Packaging

Kassandra Kania

Walk into virtually any drugstore and you’ll find it without even looking for it. The bright purple packaging is everywhere you turn. Large purple end-of-aisle displays house the cartons. Smaller displays line shelves. Purple stickers adorn the glass doors. Even the metal detectors are covered with cardboard sleeves advertising the drug. 

Welcome to the launch of Prilosec, a treatment for frequent heartburn that switched from prescription to over-the-counter (OTC) status last year. 

A launch like this one requires a lot of forethought and planning—particularly in terms of the packaging. After all, this will be one of the primary ways to market your product and differentiate it from the competition once it hits the shelves. Splashy launches, like Prilosec’s, grab consumers’ attention with bright colors and fancy displays. But packaging also plays a role in making sure that the drug is reaching the right audience and is being used correctly. This is especially true of prescription drugs that have switched to OTC status. Consumers must become their own doctors and rely on packaging to help determine their course of treatment.

Naming and Labeling

When drugs switch from prescription to OTC status, often the name remains the same because patients are more familiar with the prescription version. “[Prescription]-to-OTC switches rely heavily on going back to the Rx product,” says Mike Kupinski, account executive for Anderson Packaging Inc. (Rockford, IL). “That’s the identity of the product.”

For new drugs that are just coming on the market and may not have an identity yet, packaging can play a role in helping consumers recognize the product and understand what it is for. In May 2003, Innovative Creative Packaging Solutions (South Plainfield, NJ) assisted OHM Labs, one of its private-label pharmaceutical customers, with the printing and packaging requirements for a new OTC product called Loratadine, which is the active ingredient in Claritin. “Since most customers don’t know what active ingredients are that make up brand-name drugs, the package graphics were designed to highlight the words “compared to the active ingredient in Claritin” on the front panel of the carton. This way, consumers can easily recognize the product, develop a comprehension of what the product is, and use it accordingly,” says Tony Genovese, senior account executive.

The intended use of the drug is an important consideration, says Kupinski. When switching from prescription to OTC, does your packaging convey how the product should be used? And how does this relate to its use as a prescription drug? For example, Kupinksi explains, Prilosec was originally a prescription product approved for 14 days of therapy. The OTC version was going to be marketed as a maintenance drug, he says, but FDA determined that it was an event drug. 

To ensure that people do not diagnose themselves and take Prilosec as a maintenance drug when in fact they may have a more serious condition, the manufacturer, Procter & Gamble, conducted label comprehension studies. Graphics and labeling on the final package help ensure that patients take the medication as directed and seek the advice of a doctor if needed, says Kupinski. The front of the Prilosec carton reads “one 14-day course of treatment” while the drug facts reinforce that the consumer should seek the advice of a doctor if the product is needed for more than 14 days.

Appearances

With so many new OTC products vying for consumers’ attention, manufacturers are doing everything they can to give theirs an edge. Innovative’s goal was to “develop a package quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively that would attract consumers and provide differentiation in the marketplace,” notes Genovese. The graphic design of the Loratadine carton incorporated many color gradations and graphic styles depending on the retail chain that was distributing the product. According to Bob Haywood, director of sales and marketing for OHM, the graphics are similar to the national brand because customers are already familiar with Claritin. “There is a desire to create an attractive package that is consistent with other store-brand products,” he says, “but at the same time says to the customer you are buying a product that’s equivalent [to Claritin].”

Color and graphics are receiving more attention now than ever before. “These days you’ll see a lot more color and graphics that were not formerly associated with pharmaceuticals so they can jump off the shelves,” says Chuck Kerins, director of sales for Sharp Corp. (Conshohocken, PA). Lenticular images are also being used to convey a message with graphics. (Lenticular graphics is a process whereby dimension or motion is added to an image by allowing the eye to simultaneously view alternating sections of multiple images.) For example, cartons of ElixSure show a spoon of medicine being tipped forward, indicating that the children’s medication is spill-resistant. 

Another important part of the OTC business is line extensions, says Kerins. “Often you see formulation extensions that flesh out the product line,” he says. “This calls for a different style of packaging to make the product more appealing in the marketplace.” Usually the change is reflected in the label copy, such as banners highlighting the new product use.

Form

Drugs making the switch from prescription to OTC often transition from bottles to blister packaging, notes Kerins. “Blisters provide convenience, so a lot of OTC products are migrating toward blisters,” he says. Kupinski notes that newer products are often single use, which is another reason for the move to blister packaging. These products also have compounds that require higher barrier properties. 

Industry experts are seeing a move toward alternative delivery forms for OTC products. Customers want ease of use and convenience, and packaging is moving in this direction. Howard Thau, president of Sonic Packaging Industries Inc. (Westwood, NJ), is working on a nasal product that is currently on the market in a multidose container. “Our customer is considering a line extension that would require a premeasured, ready-to-use, single-dose applicator package,” he says. Sonic Packaging is also working on the launch of a product for this market that would offer the company a single-dose applicator package that is convenient for the consumer to use either at home or when traveling. “Since many products cannot be left on the applicator for an extended period of time, our customer is focusing on our saturated-at-the-point-of-use package. This will keep the product and applicator separate until point of use, yet it will still be easy to use in a premeasured format,” says Thau. “Marketers today understand the importance of creative packaging and alternative delivery systems as a way to differentiate themselves from their competition.” 

For new product launches, this is especially true. Companies must consider not only the design of the package but also the intended audience and how best to target that audience to ensure that the new drug assumes an identity and becomes familiar to consumers. 

Copyright ©2004 Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News