Track and Trace in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Add bookmarkEnsuring that their supply chain is secure is just one way in which companies can reduce the risk of counterfeit drugs entering the industry. The problem is not just confined to the developing world, but is increasingly been seen within the European Union (EU) market as well.
The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) highlights that current regulations allow products to be "re-boxed, relabelled or over-stickered" , which can lead to the damage of identification numbers, make it difficult to identify counterfeit drugs.
Improvements to track and trace technology is one way in which the pharmaceutical industry is looking to clamp down on the trade of counterfeit medicines.
The International Authentication Association (IAA) also believes that current track and trace technology doesn't go far enough. It claimed that the United States Joint Strategic Plan on IP Enforcement did not go far enough to combat the counterfeiting of drugs by simply establishing a mandatory requirement for track and trace in the pharmaceutical industry.
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Jim Rittenburg, chairman of the IAA, said: "The national plan to fight counterfeiting should include references and guidance on the means of authentication, because detecting fakes is a key part of any anti-counterfeiting strategy."
He added: "This is also highlighted in the approach that governments take to protect their money. Although banknotes are all serialised for tracking purposes, they also contain a multitude of overt and covert authentication features such as security threads, holographics, watermarks, microtext, security inks, invisible taggants, etc."
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