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Images: Travtec Ltd

Falsified Medicines Directive

Code Word
The European Falsified Medicines Directive offers manufacturers
the opportunity to invest in effective anti-counterfeiting measures,
with the potential to implement a global standard. However,
successful systems will depend on the accuracy of the code
printed on the product packaging
Counterfeit medicines pose a serious
threat to public health and safety,
and they remain a growing problem
throughout the European Union (EU).
In the last five years, over 40 million
have been seized by customs at EU
borders, while in 2010 alone the
number seized at outer borders was
11.5 million. Just as worrying, given the
huge increases in online purchases in
recent years, is that the percentage
of drugs ordered over the internet
that turn out to be counterfeit is
estimated at between 50 per cent
and 80 per cent.

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Part of the problem up until now has
been that counterfeit medicines were
previously regarded as a low priority for
many governments. This was not helped
by the lack of a coordinated approach,
with governments acting alone and
often with weak regulatory structures
and inadequate penalties, which
made counterfeit medicines a much
safer option than narcotics for many
criminals. Counterfeit medicines could
be more profitable too – one recent case
highlighted a two-man wholesaler in the
UK that made £57.6 million in the four
years prior to the arrest of the owners.

Harry Thomason
at Travtec Ltd

It is hardly any wonder, therefore, that
the World Health Organization estimated
that the counterfeit pharmaceutical
market was worth $75 billion in 2010.

Tackling the Issue
It is against this background that, in July
2011, the EU sought to strengthen the
protection of patients and consumers
through the introduction of the
Figure 1 (above): 2D close-up: the 2D Datamatrix
code contains a huge amount of information in a
concise format

August 2013