More and more pharmaceutical companies are now adopting various and multiple layers of anti-counterfeiting solutions. This article discusses the recent trends and their importance

Fake goods nearly account for 10 per cent of global trade and their estimated worth is around $500 billion .Out of these, luxury items such as footwear, watches, apparel, etc, and pharmaceutical drugs are most counterfeited across the world. Counterfeiting of all these categories causes irreparable damage to brands worldwide. However, of this it is counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs worth over $75 billion in 2010, which actually claim lives.

Though much is being done by WHO and pharma companies to create awareness about fake drugs and its risks, counterfeiters are increasingly employing deceitful tactics to lure people with cheap, but fatal, drugs. Typically, counterfeiting today uses the following five types of mechanisms. Nearly 43 per cent of counterfeit drugs contain no active ingredient, while 21 per cent contain low levels of active ingredient. While about 24 per cent safe drugs are replaced with poor-quality drugs, wrong packaging leads to about seven per cent of global pharmaceutical counterfeiting .

To combat this menace, many pharmaceutical companies are engaging partners that bring packaging expertise to the table and ensure the safety of the product, while tackling counterfeiting and increasing brand value. While pharma companies look to keep the costs down, their packaging counterparts identify R&D and innovation as the only way to keep ahead of their competition and, most importantly, counterfeiters.

Dealing with counterfeiters demands a multi-level approach. In other words, a counterfeiter maybe able to replicate your hologram, but may not be able to elude RFID tags or track & trace. So, pharma companies need to utilize the best of both overt and covert technologies in packaging to ensure maximum security and minimum scope for counterfeiting.

One of the best methods to cope with counterfeiting is to employ a track & trace solution that monitors the entire process right from manufacturing to packaging of the drug. Not only does it serve as a protective layer of supply chain security, but also empowers end-users to authenticate the genuineness at the point-of-purchase via an SMS. This anti-counterfeiting solution makes for long-term return on investment (ROI) helping track consumer insights, especially in countries with high mobile penetration.

Combine this with serialization , one can build a near-perfect way of flagging down counterfeit drugs in the market. With serialization, each package will have a unique serial number printed and recorded during production in a database. This could be used to identify same serial number products. It could help address diversion, where originals may even end up in the black market.

Besides track & trace and serialization, authentication techniques - overt or covert - serve as another layer of protection against counterfeiting. Overt techniques like holograms or color-shifting are used on product packaging for quick brand identification by end-consumers, while covert methods such as ultraviolet pigments or infra-red are detectable only through specialized equipment.

ACG Worldwide, the one stop shop that offers integrated manufacturing, packaging and R&D solutions to the global pharmaceutical industry, has a range of products to prevent counterfeiting from eating into a company's profits. From a simple yet effective holographic film to a full-service track & trace solution to a four-colored capsule, ACG Worldwide brings a multitude of anti-counterfeiting options on the table:

• Brandshield® 3600 Capsules - A unique technology pioneered by ACG Worldwide allowing circular printing of logo or brand name on a two-colored capsule
• Brandshield® 4C Capsules - A four-colored circular-oriented capsule that’s nearly impossible to duplicate
• Brandshield® Films - A differential grated embedded image film developed from proprietary technology, custom-designed to address required barrier properties
• Alukbliss® Films - A highly customizable and innovative film that combines the look of Cold Form Blister (CFB) foils with the barrier of PVC
• Verif-i - A complete track & trace solution for supply chain security as well as anti-counterfeiting

Counterfeiting of pharmaceutical drugs, some lifesaving, has claimed many lives worldwide and continues to jeopardize the lives of many others. By implementing multiple layers of anti-counterfeiting measures, pharmaceutical companies can not only plug millions of dollars back, but also do what they do best - save lives.