European pharmacy industry body will participate in anti – counterfeit pilot study
The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) has organized and will participate in an anti – counterfeiting project that will last for a duration of two months. This project will allow pharmacists to practice verifying a product's authenticity through a display of a tiny barcode or ‘data matrix' being present on products. This matrix provides the pharmacist with an almost immediate indication of whether the product has been previously distributed which could suggest that the product might be counterfeit.
Other organizations that will join forces with EFPIA on this initiative will include a Swedishpharmaceutical retailer Apoteket AB and the wholesaler Tamro & Oriola-KD. It is believed that although this project will not provide an absolute and final solution to the challenge of counterfeit medicines, it will, at least, reinforce security and restore patient confidence in the legal supply chain.
Previously, in 2007, the EFPIA has stated that under the current EU rules, repackaging activities which involve damaging security seals and unique identification codes which would make tracing the object difficult and increase the probability of counterfeit medicines gaining access to the supply chain. Therefore, the EFPIA published a report on “Packaging standard for Counterfeit resistant packaging and its implementation into International Supply Chains in Europe” which suggested that a closure system for the product which could highlight evidence of tampering and which also contains randomized barcodes should be implemented.
Thus; this pilot study not only represents the potential start of a harmonized, effective anti – counterfeit system in the EU but is also a breakthrough for the EFPIA.
EFPIA starts anti-counterfeiting pilots in Sweden
EFPIA - Policies to Combat Counterfeit Medicines: Contribution to Impact Assessment
EFPIA - Coding & Identification of Products: Towards Safer Medicines Supply
EFPIA - Packaging Standard for Counterfeit Resistant Packaging and Its Implementation into International Supply Chains in Europe