Healthy Profits from Selling Healthcare Labels

Why sell healthcare labels? No matter whether the economy is booming or busting, people still need prescriptions, lab tests, and in-office and in-hospital care. If you want to sell into a market that is steady, predictable, and profitable, healthcare labels are a good choice.

Just how stable is this market? Healthcare and laboratory labels is estimated to be a $9.2 billion market, projected to top $13.5 billion by 2030. This is a healthy CAGR of 4.9%. Someone needs to supply customers with these labels, and there is no reason it can’t be you.

One of the great things about healthcare labeling is that the factors driving this market don’t depend on the ups and downs of the economy. These include strong demand for new and improved over the counter (OTC) and prescription drugs, rising demand for personalized medicine, and the aging of America, among others. This market is only going to grow over time.

But despite its name, “healthcare labels” is actually a collection of sub-markets, including small-volume containers, labels for cold and cryogenic storage, and labels for hospital and medical devices. Small-volume containers could also be split into prescription labels and medical equipment labels. Both are small containers, but each serves a very different purpose.

While each of these markets has similarities with the other (the need for easy-to-read labeling, for example, permanent adhesion regardless of environmental conditions, and accurate labeling that meets regulatory guidelines) each also has its own distinctives. In many ways, each of these markets is as different from the another as siblings in the same family.

Small-Volume Containers

These labels can range from those on syringes and ampoules to prescription bottles. They may need to adhere to glass or plastic and have security features to prove that they have remained sterile and not been tampered with. Some may use luminescent adhesive, for example, when it’s necessary to prove that the label has not been removed.

Prescription Bottles

These labels must have the name of the product, active and inactive ingredients, strength and dosage, warnings, method of administration, allergic reactions, and so on. They must also have sufficient adhesion that they will remain on the bottle for the life of the product. Most prescription bottles have a relatively short life span, and because they are not exposed to extreme environmental conditions, their adhesion requirements are somewhat simpler.

Cold and Cryogenic Storage

Certain biological drugs and samples must be stored at extremely low temperatures. Because these labels move across extreme temperatures, they must be extremely tough to make sure they won’t lift or peel as a direct result of thawing, warming, and freezing.

Surgical and Hospital Instruments

These labels are adhered to surgical instruments for identification and traceability. Like cold and cryogenic storage labels, they must withstand punishing conditions, including steam autoclave sterilization. These labels must remain intact and legible throughout the entire product lifecycle, which means they must have excellent adhesion in steam, pressure, and extreme heat.

End User Markets

The healthcare market is also made up of many end user markets, all of which need labeling solutions. Among the end user markets into which you can sell are the following:

• Pharmaceutical
• Nutraceutical
• Medical devices
• Laboratory

The range of opportunities is vast.

The opportunities to upsell into more complex and fully featured products are vast, as well. For example, because tracking and tracing is such as important aspect of this market, you have the opportunity to upsell to RFID and NFC features to provide better tracking and enhanced inventory accuracy.

Some pharmaceutical products may also benefit from expanded labeling solutions such as multi-page and foldout labeling. These labels are adhered to the exterior of the packaging and can be used to supply expanded information such as lengthy compliance text, diagrams or illustrations, and translation into multiple languages.

This is a lot to take in, especially for your accounts—and that’s where you come in. As their trusted distributor partner, you can sort through it, so they don’t have to. Do you have to be an expert in substrates, adhesives, and cryogenics to sell healthcare labels? No. You just need to work with someone who is… and that’s why we’re here.

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