Pharma Anti Counterfeiting Solutions To Prevent Product Counterfeiting

By Author: Alice Coope
Total Articles: 213
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As per U.S. law, counterfeit drugs are “those sold under a product name without proper authorization. Counterfeiting can apply to both brand name and generic products, where the identity of the source is mislabeled in a way that suggests that it is the authentic approved product. Counterfeit products may include products without the active ingredient, with an insufficient or excessive quantity of the active ingredient, with the wrong active ingredient, or with fake packaging.”World Health Organization (WHO) identifies counterfeit drugs as spurious/falsely-labeled/falsified/counterfeit (SFFC) medicines that are “deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled with respect to identity and/or source.”

Counterfeit drugs are available everywhere but it is available most in regions where there is a lack of effective regulatory and enforcement systems. Counterfeit drugs can contain either harmful toxins or inactive, ineffective ingredients. Hence, in both cases it can lead to unexpected side effects, allergic reactions, worsening of medical condition, treatment failure, or even death.

Though in developed countries like ...
... USA the incidence of SFFC medicines is extremely low, it is still a great public health risk. Counterfeit drugs cannot enter the legitimate supply chain where medicines are sold directly by pharmaceutical companies to major authorized distributors. The distributors then supply them to hospitals and pharmacies where they are dispensed to patients. However, when intermediaries or secondary wholesalers enter the supply chain, it results in the entry of fake or unapproved and potentially dangerous drugs from other countries. What makes counterfeit detection tough is the fact that the counterfeit drugs are very sophisticated in appearance and packaging.

However, today pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting solutions are available that provide not only visibility into the worldwide market but also gives real-time information about the violators. Today pharmaceutical counterfeiting is a "lose-lose" situation for consumers, governments, and legitimate manufacturers but with anti-counterfeiting solutions pharmaceutical companies can significantly cut down on the amount of fake drugs in the market by identifying networks and syndicates involved in counterfeiting. Hence, to protect company’s revenues, brand and customers, pharmaceutical companies must deploy effective anti-counterfeiting solutions.

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