Report describes 'smart' weapons to battle counterfeiting
In its just-published study Low-Cost Smart Packaging in Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics, Pira International reports that smart or intelligent packaging technologies offer designers, producers, and users of pharmaceuticals or cosmetics a broad and diverse range of functions to address counterfeiting and theft. These include the following:
• Electronic compliance monitoring of medications in blister packs and bottles
• Battery-powered patches for applying cosmetics and medications
• "Talking" packaging to communicate with visually impaired patients
• Visual displays to indicate "freshness" of vaccines or high-value healthcare products
• Enhanced levels of brand security and authentication
• Tamper-evident seals and sterilization indicators
Pira's study, based on the results of interviews with converters, technology suppliers, brand owners, and retailers, serves to:
• Confirm the trends in the increased use of intelligent packaging technologies in pharmaceuticals
• Suggest that the growth in pharmaceuticals is driven more by developments in retail packaging
The report notes that "diagnostic technologies, including RF-enabled technologies, will figure in the control and storage of thermally sensitive vaccines and medications."
Addressing counterfeiting and theft in the pharmaceutical sector, the study noted that:
• The World Health Organisation estimates that 7% of the value of pharmaceuticals used globally is in counterfeit product, with a value estimated at $33 billion to $35 billion
• 60% of counterfeit drugs have no active ingredients, 19% have the wrong dosage, and 16% have inappropriate agents
Last April at Pira's Brand Protection USA conference, an Eli Lilly representative noted that pharmaceuticals are "straightforward" to counterfeit because designs are simple, packaging components (bottles, vials, seals, and caps) are readily available, and pharmacists and consumers may not detect counterfeits.
Published in December, the report is available for $529 by visiting the Web site listed above, or by calling 011/44.1372.802.080.
—Jim Butschli
