Asia Pacific Pharmacy Automation Market

The global asia pacific pharmacy automation market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $496 million in 2023 and is poised to reach $763 million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 9.0% from 2023 to 2028. The new research study consists of an industry trend analysis of the market. The new research study consists of industry trends, pricing analysis, patent analysis, conference and webinar materials, key stakeholders, and buying behaviour in the market. The significant growth potential in emerging markets such as China, India, Japan, Singapore, India, growing focus on automation to reduce labour costs, and increasing speciality drug dispensing are some of the critical factors offering opportunities to the market.

However, lack of technical expertise and high cost of implementation are key factors challenging the growth of the Asia Pacific pharmacy automation market.

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Asia Pacific pharmacy automation Market Dynamics

Driver: Technological advancements and integration with healthcare systems

Technological advancements and integration with healthcare systems play a vital role in driving the adoption of pharmacy automation in the Asia Pacific region. The rapid progress in automation technologies, such as robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning, has revolutionized the capabilities of pharmacy automation systems. These advancements enable sophisticated medication dispensing, automated inventory management, robotic prescription filling, and intelligent medication verification processes. With high-speed robotic systems, pharmacies can achieve precise medication counting and reduce the risk of errors. AI and machine learning algorithms optimize inventory management, predict medication demand, and improve overall workflow efficiency. Integration with hospital information systems enables seamless prescription verification, real-time inventory tracking, and efficient medication distribution within the hospital. Improved interoperability and data exchange standards further enhance the integration of pharmacy automation with healthcare systems. Common standards like Health Level Seven (HL7) facilitate the seamless exchange of patient data, medication orders, and medication-related information, reducing manual data entry and enhancing patient safety. Furthermore, the integration of pharmacy automation with healthcare systems leads to enhanced workflow efficiency and cost savings. Additionally, electronic billing and claims processing capabilities improve revenue cycle management for pharmacies and healthcare providers.

Restraint: Lack of skilled personnel

The pharmacy automation industry in the Asia Pacific region is constantly evolving with advancements in automation technologies. Highly skilled professionals must keep pace with these continuing changes. Experienced professionals must know how to utilize and handle technical systems like automated dispensing cabinets and automated packaging systems to ensure safety, efficacy, and accuracy during the medication dispensing process. Many countries face the issue of insufficiently skilled pharmacy professionals. The adoption of automation in pharmacies has saved time and minimized errors associated with dispensing prescriptions. On the other hand, some countries are experiencing a substantial deficit of untapped human capital due to insufficient education and training. This shortage of skilled professionals may hamper the adoption of automation in pharmacies, thereby limiting the growth of the Asia Pacific pharmacy automation market.

Opportunity: Increasing awareness among pharmacists

The systems for managing medicines have remained unchanged for decades, while medications have increased in number and complexity, resulting in a potentially more significant risk for error. In addition, with the traditional methods of operation within pharmacies, pharmacists have witnessed various issues such as increased medication errors and growing patient waiting times due to the increasing patient load. Owing to this, pharmacists have now started implementing technologically advanced automation solutions in pharmacies. These solutions help address the prevailing issues regarding capacity & inventory management and ensure minimization of dispensing and medication errors. Thus, rising awareness regarding the effective management of pharmacy workloads through automated systems is expected to provide significant growth opportunities for the pharmacy automation market across the Asia Pacific region.

Challenge: Risk of cross-contamination

The risk of drug-drug cross-contamination in drug dispensing robots in hospital pharmacies causes serious concern. The possibility of medication cross-contamination during automated pill counting is becoming a major safety concern across healthcare facilities and pharmacies. Manufacturers of semi-automated and fully automated counting technology systems used by various end users now consider cross-contamination a major issue. Pill residues present in drug dispensing robots are not always the residue of one drug but are a mixture of dust from many drugs stored in the machine. Residue from pills is sometimes very harmful, especially from chemotherapy drugs, which can be toxic. Similarly, drugs like penicillin and sulfides can trigger severe allergic reactions.

One machine processing many different medications must be cleaned between operations to avoid cross-contamination. Currently, this task falls to the pharmacy staff, making them reluctant to adopt such systems in-house. However, pharmacy automation providers are currently incorporating innovative technologies into these systems to overcome the challenge of cross-contamination. For instance, the ScriptPro SP series of robotic prescription dispensing systems do not use air pressure or a vacuum to move pills. Instead, the system fills vials directly from the dispensing cells.

Asia Pacific Pharmacy Automation Market Ecosystem

The ecosystem market map of the Asia Pacific pharmacy automation market comprises the elements present in this market and defines these elements with a demonstration of the bodies involved. The end users of pharmacy automation solutions include inpatient hospital pharmacies, outpatient pharmacies, retail pharmacies, benefit organizations, and mail-order pharmacies. The manufacturers of pharmacy automation solutions include the organizations involved in the entire process of research, product development, optimization, and launch.

Source: Secondary Literature, Interviews with Experts, and MarketsandMarkets Analysis

Centralized pharmacies segment accounted to hold a significant share of asia pacific pharmacy automation industry, by application/operation

Centralized pharmacies segment accounted to hold a significant share of asia pacific pharmacy automation market, by application/operation. The growth of this segment is accounted to the advantages offered by these type of systems such as reduced inventory costs, streamlined workflows, and reduced expenses. The growing need to optimize inventory levels to reduce stock-outs, minimize errors related to manual stocking, and improve drug shortage management is a key factor driving the growth of this segment.

Acute care systems segment accounted for a considerable share in the Asia Pacific pharmacy automation industry, for inpatient pharmacies, by type in 2022”

In 2022, the acute care systems segment accounted for a considerable share in the Asia Pacific pharmacy automation market, for inpatient pharmacies, by type. The large share of this segment can be attributed to the minimized losses associated with pilferage, misuse, and other missing charges by using automated pharmacy systems. Also, most healthcare insurers cover expenses for acute care services provided at hospitals. Hence, with the expanding insurance coverage across Asian countries, the workload in acute care systems is expected to increase and drive health service utilization. Consequently, the demand for better pharmacy management will grow and support the adoption of automation in acute care.

Australia dominated the Asia Pacific pharmacy automation industry in 2022

Australia accounted for the largest share of the Asia Pacific pharmacy automation market. The large share of Australia can be attributed to the developed infrastructure and growth in the demand for digitalized technologies across the country drive the implementation of different analytical solutions among pharmacies. Additionally, the presence of well-equipped hospitals and other healthcare facilities further drives the demand for and adoption of advanced solutions such as pharmacy automation systems in Australia.

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Prominent companies in this market include Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) (US), Yuyama Co., Ltd/Yuyama Mfg Co., Ltd (Japan), Omnicell, Inc. (US), KUKA AG (Swisslog Healthcare) (Germany), TOSHO Co, Inc. (Japan), Oracle Corporation (US), TouchPoint Medical Solutions (US), Takazono Corporation (Japan), Capsa Healthcare (US), ARxIUM, Inc. (US), Mckesson Corporation (US), ATS Corporation (Canada), ScriptPro LLC (US), Hanmi Pharma Co., Ltd. (South Korea), NIHON CHOUZAI Co., Ltd. (Japan), and GETECH (Singapore).

Scope of the Asia Pacific Pharmacy Automation Industry

The study categorizes the Asia Pacific pharmacy automation market to forecast revenue and analyze trends in each of the following submarkets:

By Product

• Automated Medication Dispensing and Storage Systems
  • Automated Medication Dispensing and Storage Systems, by Type
    • Robots/robotic automated dispensing systems
    • Carousels
    • Automated Dispensing Cabinets
  • Automated Medication Dispensing and Storage Systems, by Application/Operation
    • Centralized Pharmacies
    • Decentralized Pharamcies
• Automated Packaging & Labelling Systems
• Automated Table-top Counters
• Automated Medication Compounding Systems
• Other Pharmacy Automation Systems

By End User

• Inpatient Pharmacies
  • Acute Care Systems
  • Long-term Care Facilities
• Outpatient Pharmacies
  • Outpatient/Fast-track Clinics
  • Hospital Retail Settings
• Retail Pharmacies
• Pharmacy Benefit Management Organizations and Mail-order Pharmacies

By Country

• Australia
• Japan
• China
• India
• South Korea
• Singapore
• Thailand
• Malaysia
• HongKong
• Vietnam
• Philippines
• Indonesia
• Bangladesh
• Rest of Asia Pacific

Recent Developments of Asia Pacific Pharmacy Automation Industry

• In October 2022, Omnicell launched Specialty Pharmacy Services to help health systems establish and optimize specialty pharmacy programs. The offering aimed to improve access to specialty medications, generate financial outcomes through a value-based service model, and provide comprehensive technology and expertise for medication management.In July 2022, BD acquired MedKeeper, a provider of cloud-based pharmacy management applications. This acquisition strengthens BD's presence in the pharmacy sector and enhances its medication management capabilities, particularly in the preparation of compounded medications.
• In June 2022, Oracle Corporation completed the acquisition of Cerner Corporation, with approximately 69.2% of Cerner's outstanding shares being tendered. The acquisition aimed to revolutionize the healthcare industry by combining clinical capabilities with enterprise platforms, analytics, and automation expertise.

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