The fight against counterfeit drugs in developing countries

New technology in the fight against counterfeit medicines in the developing world was announced in a presentation to the WHO's International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce this week.

UK-based pharmaceutical authentication company, Aegate revealed how it has adapted its technology, to prevent the sale of counterfeit medicine to the consumer, to the needs of the developing world through the use of mobile phones.

"More than 30% of counterfeit medicines are to be found in the developing world; however, we have long recognised that solutions that work for the developed world cannot just be extended to the developing world due to the differences in environment," Aegate CEO, Gary Noon said.

"Aegate's process of authentication is successful because it does not rely on a single technology solution, meaning that counterfeit prevention can be achieved in any environmental condition."

The company is currently rolling out a solution to medicines counterfeiting in Europe, which relies on the individual package bar code to verify the authenticity of each medicine.

The solution is based on an online patient safety communications network linking pharmaceutical manufacturers to pharmacies. This enables an authentication check of each medicine at the last moment before the drug is sold and handed over to the patient.

Late last year, the company introduced this authentication system in pharmacies across Belgium and has recently put in place agreements in Greece to start pharmacy rollout within the next few months.

Following implementation of the system in Europe, Aegate has adapted the technology to the needs of the developing world. In its taskforce presentation, the company showed how a mobile phone and a simple, cost-effective 2D bar code can increase patient safety in a broad range of environments.