Packaging


Counterfeit and proper


The health crisis created by Covid-19 has created further opportunities for black market medicines to be sold to worried populations. Jackie Pullman explores how Novartis, through its work with the PharmaLedger consortium, is adding a blockchain-powered layer of authenticity to pharma packaging by talking with Daniel Fritz, a supply chain technology architect at the company.


s well as claiming the lives of many people around the world, the Covid-19 pandemic that has gripped us for more than 18 months has instilled a tremendous amount of fear into the public. While the health, social and economic consequences have indeed been dire, human ingenuity fast-tracked the development of vaccinations and treatments, which have prevented many more lives from being lost. It triggered the start of a recovery, and helped to allay much of the fear held within societies and communities. However, the crisis has also shone a spotlight on another dangerous side effect – fake medicine.


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“It is a very serious threat,” outlined Gianluca Esposito, head of the Council of Europe’s Action Against Crime Department, in an interview on the Council of Europe’s website.


“It is already a serious threat in normal times. Covid has exacerbated that threat and the risk for individuals is very high... There is [a] large circulation of everything from fake masks to kits to miracle cures.


“These things, at the very least, are misleading. They provide you with misleading information. At worst, they can actually be extremely detrimental to your life and to your health. This is a very


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World Pharmaceutical Frontiers / www.worldpharmaceuticals.net


orld Pharmaceutical Frontiers / www.worldpharmaceuticals.net


Image Point Fr/Shutterstock.comImage Point Fr/Shutterstock.com


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