| Philippa Bruce of PRISYMID identifies the advantages of using holographic images in helping to combat the counterfeit of high value drugs, protecting brand identity and consumer safety
With counterfeits costing manufacturers billions of pounds per year, there is a growing need for sophisticated and cost-effective solutions. Counterfeiting has long been a problem for the luxury goods market, automotive parts, apparel industry and banking sector. In the pharmaceutical industry, however, the risk of counterfeit drugs entering the supply chain poses a serious health hazard to consumers as well as a substantial financial cost to manufacturers.
In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that as much as $35 billion of pharmaceuticals sold globally each year are fakes. Due to its very nature, counterfeiting in the industry is difficult to quantify – the true extent is unknown, but the real figure is likely to be higher still. What is clear, however, is that the problem is on the rise.
It is now widely acknowledged that counterfeit drugs are no longer confined to ‘black’ markets in specific countries but are infiltrating legitimate channels globally. The emergence and popularity of the internet has compounded the problem, enabling counterfeiters to reach consumers more easily with their cut-price drugs. Greater access to scanning and imaging technology, used by counterfeiters to reproduce pharmaceutical packaging, is another possible factor contributing to this rise. |
