Why usability, safety and evolving regulation are reshaping preservativefree eye care
In ophthalmic therapy, the package is no longer a passive container. It has become an integral part of treatment performance, patient experience and regulatory strategy. Across global markets, manufacturers are facing rising expectations not only to deliver effective formulations, but also to ensure that the therapies can be administered safely, consistently and conveniently by patients in real-world conditions. This is particularly true in eye care, where many treatments are self-administered, often over long periods of time, and where successful outcomes depend heavily on correct application of treatment. The EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) reinforces this trend by placing greater emphasis on safety, performance, risk reduction, usability and information supplied with the device.
How Packaging Influences Patient Adherence
For companies with deep expertise in dispensing and drug-delivery systems like Silgan Dispensing, this evolution confirms something long understood in practice: packaging design can directly influence adherence. In self-administered ophthalmic therapies, packaging affects whether patients can aim correctly, apply one drop at a time, generate sufficient squeeze force, avoid contamination and remain confident throughout treatment. When administration is difficult, inconsistent or stressful, the risk is not simply dissatisfaction: it is missed doses, incorrect dosing and ultimately poorer treatment adherence.
This point is especially important in ophthalmology because correct eye-drop instillation can be difficult outside controlled settings. Real-world studies suggest that correct eye-drop instillation is uncommon: in one observational study, only 3 % of users performed all administration steps correctly, while difficulties such as getting a drop into the eye, squeezing the bottle, or avoiding bottle-eye contact were frequently reported.
Physical difficulties such as aiming, squeezing and visibility can lead patients to skip doses or delay use, especially in chronic conditions such as dry eye disease or glaucoma. These observations are aligned with broader industry recognition that poor usability in ophthalmic delivery systems can Packaging design plays a critical role in supporting accurate and convenient eye-drop instillation; an important factor in patient adherence, particularly in chronic ophthalmic contribute to unintentional non-adherence when medication is not administered correctly.
The Growing Shift Toward Preservative-free Multidose Systems
At the same time, the market is moving decisively toward preservative-free multidose solutions. This shift is driven by growing demand for preservative-free products, especially among patients with sensitive eyes or chronic conditions requiring prolonged use, combined with the convenience and costeffectiveness of multidose formats compared with unit-dose systems. This direction also reflects clinical concerns around prolonged exposure to preservatives in ophthalmic formulations and a corresponding need for safe multidose systems that protect the formulation without compromising patient usability.
