PHARMA, HEALTHCARE & COSMETICS: COVERT & OVERT


Utilisation of a variety of both overt and


the best way to protect pharmaceuticals, says Stephen


covert technologies is


Protecting pharmaceuticals


As counterfeiting continues in pharma, Stephen Clarke looks at the covert and overt technologies used to combat this crime


When protecting your house against burglars, you don’t generally put all your faith and money in one security option but instead look to protect your house in various ways.


Stephen Clarke is the Managing Director of API Holographics, producers of holographics for the packaging industry. For more information, visit www.apigroup.com/ holographics.


back door might be used and an additional padlock on the garden shed could be bought to protect the golf clubs. Essentially it is about making it as difficult as possible for the burglars and hoping that the precautions you take put them off making the effort. With the ingenuity counterfeiters are showing around the world, pharmaceutical companies have to protect their products in the same way and one security solution is never enough. While in the last few years of


A 30 | Packaging Gazette | PackagingGazette.co.uk


n alarm may be fitted, locks on windows added, an extra deadlock on the


the economic downturn many companies and sectors have seen growth stall and profits slide, the counterfeit goods industry is one sector which has shown no sign of demise. In fact, if anything the counterfeiters are getting more skilled and bold in their endeavours and rich because of them. DVDs, clothes, handbags,


sunglasses and watches are common counterfeit goods often seen while on holiday and while these fakes can grossly damage brands, other counterfeit goods can have much more dire and lethal consequences to consumers. Medicine is one such category


which has been ruthlessly targeted by the counterfeiters for a number of years with the World Health Organisation estimating that around 10 per cent of all medicines are spurious/falsely-


labelled/falsified/counterfeit (SFFC) medicines. This means that everything


from treatment for life threatening illnesses to inexpensive everyday drugs like painkillers and antihistamines are being mislabelled on purpose and fraudulently when it comes to the contents and provenance of the medicine. This results in medicines missing ingredients, including the key active ingredients. Or they could have too much or an insufficient amount of certain ingredients. The use of these medicines can then result in treatment failure or even death whilst eroding consumer confidence in health-delivery systems. In recent years, there have


been several cases where counterfeit medicines have caused severe problems and


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