Using New digital anti-counterfeiting Technologies to Protect the Egyptian Pharmaceuticals Packages against counterfeiting

Abstract

Medicine counterfeiting is an urgent problem, it is a growing issue that cannot be tolerated and one that cannot be ignored. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that counterfeit medicine accounts for 10% of the market worldwide, and more than 30% in some countries. As these counterfeit medicine increasing, patients will be the ones to pay the price. According to a 2017 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the counterfeit medicine market earns between $163 billion to $217 billion per year, making it one of the most profitable types of counterfeited goods. Counterfeiters increasingly use advanced means to produce fake medicines. So, the pharmaceutical industry must continuously update innovative technological solutions to ensure the protection and traceability of products, to identify fake products, and to secure the supply and distribution chain. The packaging is a necessary component that helps in making the medicine safe until it is used. Counterfeit medicine is an important issue for Sanofi, which is doing best efforts to fight counterfeit of its medicines and has developed several programs to promote access to safe medicines. Nevertheless, PLAVIX® Clopidogrel, one of its important and effective drugs that used in Egypt to reduce the chances of blood clots forming, which packed in a package secured with many overt and covert features to increase its protection from counterfeiting, like Serial Number, Sanofi Security Label (SASL), Data Matrix Code, Linear Barcode and Scratched Code, it can still be counterfeited. So the research hypothesis is that finding an effective, comprehensive solution like using new digital technologies, such as using RFID tags, NFC tags, ATT–Titanium Security, Fiber Tags, and others, will greatly increase the level of the medicine security and consequently achieve the research aim which is protecting The Egyptian pharmaceuticals packages against counterfeiting.