What is Primary & Secondary Packaging in Pharmaceuticals?

Within the Pharma industry, you may hear customers talking about different contact layers of protection around their goods – but what is Primary and Secondary Packaging in Pharmaceuticals ?

Please find our helpful guide below:

Primary Packaging: This refers to any packing materials that comes into direct contact with Pharmaceutical Preparations. An example of this might be foil-lid plastic blister packs.

Secondary Packaging: This is overpacking material that lies outside of the primary packaging. An example of this might be small retail cartons that contain blister-packs of headache pills. These small cartons may carry some sort of manufacturer branding, or retail message. It might also be brightly-coloured; to attract the eye of an OTC consumer. Furthermore, it may also use the patient’s local language.

Tertiary Packaging: This is a further overpacking material that lies outside of the to the primary and secondary packaging. An example of this might be large cardboard delivery boxes, used to ship the goods, whilst in transit from the manufacturer to the retailer. Typically, this packaging is disposed-of at the retailer site, and is not seen by the patient – so it carries no consumer-related messages.