Abstract
AbstractBackgroundDrug imprints on the surfaces of medicines could be used as accessible and economic anti‐counterfeiting measures.AimsTo identify and study the structure of different types of imprints and discuss potential problems related to their structure and/or format.MethodsIn total, 531 Portuguese package leaflets (PLs) were manually inspected to confirm and collect the description of the imprints. The number of letters, symbols or mixtures of both was quantified in each imprint. An electronic tool was used to evaluate the linguistic characteristics.ResultsOnly 7.9% of 531 PLs described imprints. Fifty‐five imprints were identified: 23 (41.8%) only formed by letters and 32 (58.2%) formed by letters, numbers or symbols. It was possible to identify 171 words.ConclusionIt seems that the imprints were not systematically used as anti‐counterfeiting measures. Experimental studies and the updating of pharmaceutical regulation on the suitability and specificities of these imprints are recommended.
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