Anticounterfeiting Efforts Part of Sustainable Healthcare

Could anticounterfeiting efforts help boost the economy? Last week, Arthur J. Higgins, president of EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations) and CEO of Bayer Healthcare, called for “access to the best and safest medicines” before the European Parliament during the meeting, “Towards a Healthier Europe.”

“Our healthcare systems will not be sustainable in the face of Europe’s financial and demographic crisis, unless they are subject to radical reform,” Higgins said, as quoted in an EFPIA press release. “The European pharmaceutical industry is fully committed to work with governments and other stakeholders to ensure we can avoid a crisis in healthcare and instead develop healthcare systems that are fit for the 21st century.”

Pharmapack 2010 speakers and exhibitors will explore the latest technologies for fighting counterfeits. Jean-Marc Bobée, director of anticounterfeiting strategy at Sanofi Aventis, Industrial Affairs, will discuss the use of packaging tamper resistance, authentication, codification, and track and trace approaches during the session, “Safety and Traceability of Pharmaceutical Packaging.” He cochairs the session along with Professor Jean-Claude Chaumeil, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université René Descartes Paris V, France.

Bobée is also chairman of the EFPIA project on codification and identification of pharmaceuticals in Europe. During Pharmapack he will discuss EFPIA’s pilot program using serialized 2-D Data Matrix to combat counterfeiting. Conducted in Stockholm by the retail pharmacy chain Apoteket, the pilot has pharmacists verifying unique package codes using a system developed by Siemens IT Solutions and Services, Hewlett Packard (HP), and SAP.

EFPIA believes patient safety is key to healthcare sustainability. EFPIA presented the pilot to the European Parliament last week, along with its healthcare vision, which consists of three objectives: “Ensuring early and equal patient access to the best and safest medicines in Europe; creating modern, efficient, and sustainable healthcare systems; and supporting innovation and medical progress,” stated the press release.

Other Pharmapack speakers will be presenting their own ideas for anticounterfeiting. Florent Denjean, Security and Brand Protection Market Manager, Arjowiggins Security, will present “Chemical Tag: a Simple Way of Securing a Traceability System;” Yann Boutant, Directeur Général, Signoptic technologies SAS, will present “Unitary Authentication of Pharmaceutical Packaging;” Thomas Voelcker, Marketing & Sales Director, Schreiner ProSecure, will present “Authenticity, Tamper Evidence, and Tracing of Genuine Pharmaceutical Products;” Roland Meylan, Corporate Communications Manager, AlpVision SA, will present “Low-Cost Effective Invisible Anticounterfeiting Solutions to Protect Primary and Secondary Packaging and Labels, as well as the Tablet Itself;” and Jean-Luc Lasne, Directeur, Laetus, will present “CIP13-Datamatrix: How to Comply in 350 Days.”

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