| MARKET OVERVIEW
With the existence of free trade
agreements, the worldwide trend toward
deregulation and the increase in goods
being purchased via the internet, the
market is ripe for the counterfeit drug trade
to spread to all parts of the world. Indeed,
earlier this year, data released by the
European Commission indicated a
worrying 384 per cent increase in the
number of fake drugs seized in 2006
compared with the previous year.
Further compounding the issue is
the complexity of the pharmaceutical
supply chain which provides numerous
opportunities for the unscrupulous to
interfere with the supply of drugs to the
market. In very few industries does a
supply chain and distribution chain
involve the movement of goods between
as many as 20 separate parties before it
reaches its destination as can occur in the
pharmaceutical industry.
Fuelled by price
differentials between countries, trading
in pharmaceuticals is widespread and
lucrative. In some markets, such as the UK,
it is not uncommon to see as much as 80
per cent of products sold to have been
imported from across Europe. |
