Min. 100 units · 3–5 days
Medical Device Boxes
Pharmaceutical Packaging
Specify thisPharmaceutical Packaging
Medicine Boxes
Bespoke medicine Boxes manufactured to order, with material and finish chosen around how the product ships.
- Minimum order
- 100 units
- Production
- 3–5 business days
- Construction
- folding carton
- Delivery
- US, UK, Canada, Australia
No obligation
Price this format
Name, email, phone and what you are packing and which disclosures apply. Attach artwork if you have it. We reply with a specification and a written price, usually within one business day.
What medicine boxes have to cope with
Medicine Boxes hold a blister strip or a bottle together with a folded patient leaflet, and the leaflet is bulkier than anyone expects. That is the starting point for the specification, because send the folded leaflet with the sample. Its folded thickness is a real dimension and it is the one most often missing from the brief.
In service they are used for pharmacy retail and automated packing lines, where a carton that does not run at speed is a production problem before it is a design one.
Where medicine boxes are actually used
Medicine Boxes are specified for pharmacy retail and automated packing lines, where a carton that does not run at speed is a production problem before it is a design one. Send the folded leaflet with the sample. Its folded thickness is a real dimension and it is the one most often missing from the brief.
- Pharmacy retail and automated packing lines, where a carton that does not run at speed is a production problem before it is a design one
- Shelf display in specialty retail
- Subscription and gift sets
- E-commerce inner packaging
Regulatory copy and panel space
Regulated products carry information that is not optional, and it competes for the same panel area as the brand design. The panel is almost always the binding constraint, not the structure.
Tell us which disclosures apply before we cut the die and we will block the area on the dieline. Retrofitting a warning panel into a finished layout usually means redrawing it.
The substrate for medicine boxes
Folding boxboard around 300 to 350 gsm, chosen for consistent creasing on an automatic cartoner rather than for feel.
The options we would consider for this format are below; send the folded leaflet with the sample. Its folded thickness is a real dimension and it is the one most often missing from the brief.
- 12pt SBS paperboard
- 14pt SBS paperboard
- 16pt SBS paperboard
- 18pt kraft board
- recycled CCNB board
Printing medicine boxes
Tamper-evident closure, batch and expiry fields, and Braille where the market requires it. Braille needs clear space around it and cannot overlap print.
Offset lithography, Digital press, Flexography are all available for this format. Run length usually decides which is cheapest: digital removes the plate cost on short quantities, offset and flexo overtake it at volume.
Preparing artwork
Supply artwork on the dieline we send you, with 3 mm bleed past every trim edge and all text held 4 mm inside the fold lines.
Supply a print-ready PDF or vector file with fonts outlined and images at 300 dpi. Our prepress team checks every file before a proof is issued. On a regulated pack the check that matters most is that required copy still holds its minimum type size at final scale.
Sizing medicine boxes
Driven by the leaflet as much as by the medicine — a folded leaflet commonly adds 3 to 5 mm of depth that the blister dimensions do not account for.
Send the contents rather than a box size. The carton is sized from the blister or bottle and the leaflet is added to the brief afterwards, by which time the dieline is already cut.
How an order runs
Start with dimensions and quantity. If you already run something similar, a physical sample tells us more in a minute than a specification does in a page.
We issue a dieline template, prepress checks your artwork against it, and a dated proof comes back for sign-off. Where your quality system needs it, that approval is recorded against a revision number.
Sampling before you order
A plain structural sample is the cheapest way to find a fit problem — far cheaper than finding it across a full run.
Sample costs are normally credited against the production order.
What buyers get wrong with medicine boxes
The carton is sized from the blister or bottle and the leaflet is added to the brief afterwards, by which time the dieline is already cut.
The rest of these come up often enough across the format to be worth stating plainly.
- Designing the artwork before confirming which disclosures apply.
- Placing a barcode across a crease, where scanners fail.
- Assuming a previous run can be repeated without checking the artwork revision.
- Leaving no panel headroom for a claim added later.
Reference
Medicine Boxes at a specification level
| Product | Medicine Boxes |
|---|---|
| Category | Pharmaceutical Packaging |
| Construction | Die-cut, creased and seam-glued |
| Board thickness | 12pt – 18pt depending on product weight |
| Ships as | Flat-packed, glued one seam |
| Materials | 12pt SBS paperboard, 14pt SBS paperboard, 16pt SBS paperboard, 18pt kraft board |
| Printing | Offset lithography, Digital press, Flexography |
| Finishes | Gloss lamination, Matte lamination, Soft-touch lamination, Spot UV, Foil stamping |
| Minimum order | Minimum order is 100 units on any format, and unit cost falls sharply as the quantity rises. |
| Lead time | 3 to 5 business days after artwork approval |
| Shipping | Across the US, UK, Canada and Australia |
Specification builder
Specify Medicine Boxes in under a minute
Set what you know, leave the rest. Everything here travels with your request, so nothing gets retyped.
- 100-unit minimum
- 3–5 day production
- Free dieline
- No obligation
Medicine Boxes
Drag to rotate
Specification
What the specification gives you
Sized to the contents
Driven by the leaflet as much as by the medicine — a folded leaflet commonly adds 3 to 5 mm of depth that the blister dimensions do not account for.
What tends to go wrong
The carton will not close once the leaflet is inserted, so the line jams and the pack has to be re-tooled after the board has been bought.
What it is specified for
Specified for pharmacy retail and automated packing lines, where a carton that does not run at speed is a production problem before it is a design one.
The detail that decides it
Send the folded leaflet with the sample. Its folded thickness is a real dimension and it is the one most often missing from the brief.
This format sits in our pharmaceutical packaging range, alongside 1 other made-to-order formats.
Answers
Ordering medicine boxes: the usual questions
Specification, minimums and lead times for medicine boxes.
Why does my carton jam on the packing line?
Most often the leaflet. A folded patient leaflet adds several millimetres of depth, and a carton sized from the blister alone runs tight and jams at speed. Send us the leaflet with the product sample and we will size the dieline around both.
What tamper-evident options are available?
Tear strips, tuck locks with a frangible tab, and applied security seals each give a different level of evidence. Tell us what standard you are working to, since "tamper-evident" is used loosely and the structures differ considerably.
Can you supply versioned proofs with sign-off records?
Yes. Where your quality system requires it we issue dated proofs against a revision number and retain the approval record. Ask at quoting so the documentation is built alongside the job rather than reconstructed later.
Can you produce child-resistant closures?
We can produce child-resistant structures with certified closures. Compliance is verified against the regulations in force when your order runs, so send the specific requirement your licence operates under rather than a general description.
Do medicine boxes arrive flat or assembled?
Flat and glued along one seam, so they pop open on your packing line. That keeps freight cost down considerably compared with a pre-assembled structure.
Can I see a sample first?
Yes. We can send a plain unprinted sample so you can check the fit and structure, or a printed prototype for colour and finish. Sample costs are normally credited against the production order. Use the plain sample to confirm the required copy physically fits at legal type size before any design work starts.
Can you match packaging we already use?
Send the current specification or a physical sample and we will quote to match it rather than proposing an alternative you would then have to re-approve internally. Send the existing artwork as well as the sample — on a regulated pack it is usually the panel area given to required copy, not the dimensions, that differs between suppliers.
Where do you deliver?
All 50 US states, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, on the same timeline everywhere: 3 to 5 business days of production after artwork approval, then 5 to 7 business days in transit. Every run is made to order and shipped directly to your address rather than pulled from stock, so you receive current production rather than whatever has been sitting in a warehouse. Freight is costed separately by weight, volume and destination. Tell us at quoting if the delivery point cannot take a pallet, and we will break the consignment into cartons instead.
Can I order medicine boxes in a custom size?
Every run is cut to your dimensions — there are no stock sizes here. Send the product measurements rather than a box size and we will build the folding carton around them, then send a dieline template you can design onto.
What happens after I approve the quote?
We issue a dieline template sized to your product, prepress checks your artwork against it, and a proof comes back for sign-off. Nothing runs until you approve that proof, and folding cartons then take 3 to 5 business days.
Can you hold the specification for repeat orders?
Yes. Once a first run is approved we hold the board, structure, dimensions, print method and finishes against your account, so a reorder references the same specification exactly rather than being re-derived. Artwork revisions are held against the same record, so a reorder runs the approved version rather than whatever file was most recently sent to us.
Do you offer recycled or recyclable options?
Recycled grades are available across most of the substrates we run for folding cartons. Recycled content, kerbside recyclability and certified compostability are three different claims though, so tell us which one you intend to print.
Next step
Start on Medicine Boxes
Send the dimensions, the quantity and the disclosures that have to appear. We reply with a full specification and a written price, usually within one business day.