ATL Pharma Delivers “Invisible” Nano Marking

Unique codes created by IMprints CodeMaster software can be printed on packaging by Videojet�s variable data marking and coding equipment or a company�s existing technology. Courtesy of Videojet

ATL Pharma Security Label Systems has added IDGlobal’s forensic marking technology to its taggant and security offerings. The division of Ad Tape & Label Co. (Menomonee Falls, WI) has a 10-year contract as exclusive supplier of the covert system for pharmaceutical labels.

ATL favored the technology also because of its durability in use, says Jeffrey Lord, business development manager, security products, ATL Pharma.

“With most taggants, you have lost your evidence if the product is destroyed,” Lord says. “We have taken the labels and burned them to ash and you can still identify the product. The coding is unalterable.”

The converter uses IDGlobal’s nanomarking solution in its SecurBook label line of products, which include booklets, security closures, and holograms. Lord says ATL works with a dozen other security technology suppliers. Acucote, for example, supplies ATL with frangible label materials, and label stock that incorporates taggants.

“We have had talks with some of the major pharma companies since we launched the SecurBook line last year,” Lord says. “We [find] that smaller companies with smaller-scale requirements have recently shown the most interest.”

Packaging materials, including inks, varnishes and adhesives, can be tagged with Nano-Molecular Markers from the Kelowna, British Columbia–based company. The proprietary hand-held scanners use spectrometry to read the chemical signatures imparted to the substrates. For investigating suspected supply-chain breakdowns, scanning confirms product authenticity within seconds, avoiding the need for confiscating product for authentication at a remote lab.

Programmed scanners show a picture of the product with up to nine different fields for additional information. Screens can display date and location of manufacture, lot number, and the names of persons certified to receive the product.

Product item data in bar codes or RFID tags are matched with the product signature in the marker. Chemical markers included in bar coding ink or RFID tag varnish overlays give code readers track-and-trace information and confirm product authenticity in one step.

“At each point along the supply chain, you can upload data for storing in a database or e-mailing,” Lord says. He adds that when a code is scanned, product location and legitimacy can be verified.
Unlike many taggants that can be discovered through optical means, Nano-Molecular Markers cannot be detected visually with even enhanced optical detectors, says Phil Viggiani, VP marketing and sales, IDGlobal.

Spectrometry measures particle energy to read signatures made to the substrate via the chemical marker. “You can’t counterfeit what you can’t see,” Viggiani says. Signatures can be detected only with proprietary scanners.

“Our taggant technology is like a synthetic DNA that is indestructible,” he adds. “It can withstand temperatures of up to 3000° C.”

Lord says the solution adds less than a penny to the cost of a label, with no charge for the training of field investigators. ATL also offers third-party investigative services within days.