A tablet's journey to a patient starts well before the pharmacy shelf. Someone makes the glass, the stopper, the foil and the tube, and in India a small group of companies, both homegrown and multinational, supply much of it. Here is who they are and what each one makes.
Glass vials and sterile containers
PGP Glass Limited is a global specialist in design, production, and decoration of glass packaging. They are driven by technology and innovation to create functional, aesthetic, and sustainable glass packaging solutions for our customers in the Cosmetics & Perfumery, Food & Specialty Spirits, and Pharmaceuticals industries.
SGD Pharma India makes glass bottles and vials in Type I, II and III, in amber and clear. Its range includes molded and tubular injectable vials, sterile vials and ampoules, some with internal siliconization.
Nipro India Corporation covers glass tubes, ampoules, vials, syringes and cartridges. Its facilities hold Drug Master Files (DMFs) with international regulators, which matters if you export.
Closures and drug delivery components
West Pharmaceutical Services is the name most buyers think of for elastomeric closures. Its major facility in Sri City supplies vial stoppers, seals, syringe plungers and ready-to-use sterilized components for injectables and self-injection platforms.
Aptar Pharma supplies closures and more complex delivery devices. In India that means lyophilization stoppers, parenteral vial components, syringe plungers and dry powder inhaler mechanisms.
Blister films and flexible packaging
ACG (ACG Pharmapack) is a homegrown supplier that makes its own blister films, cold-forming foils (Alu-Alu) and other packaging materials for solid oral dosages.
UFlex Limited is a large Indian flexible packaging company. For pharma it supplies BOPET, BOPP and CPP films, and it is known for anti-counterfeiting holographic PVC blisters and Alu-Alu foils.
Bilcare Limited focuses on pharmaceutical packaging research and manufacturing. It supplies PVC, PVDC and cold-form blister films that protect tablets and capsules from moisture and contamination.
Tubes
EPL Limited, formerly Essel Propack, makes laminated tubes. Many pharmaceutical ointments, creams and lotions are packed in them.
Choosing between them
The list splits by what you are packing. Injectables send you to the glass and closure makers. Tablets and capsules send you to the blister film suppliers, and the choice between PVC, PVDC and Alu-Alu depends on how sensitive the product is to moisture. Topicals mean tubes.
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