Packaging may be defined as a means of protecting the product to ensure the safe delivery of a product to the consumer in a sound condition at a minimum cost incurred in production. The type of packaging of the pharmaceuticals depends upon the properties of the substance and the manner and condition in which they are conveyed, stored, and used.

Containers of medicine, above all others, are important parts of a product themselves and require rigorous testing in order that containers may not be found wanting. A failure of a pharmaceutical container may mean contamination of the product, not merely dissatisfaction of the customer or economic loss, but can be a threat to his health, and thus the basic purpose of packaging is loss.

Pharmaceutical products may be roughly divided into three categories according to their physical state, i.e., liquid, solid, semisolid, or semiliquid. Moisture, heat, light, and oxygen have adverse influences on pharmaceutical products, and packaging is expected to prevent these influences.