|
Ian Lancaster of the International Hologram Manufacturers’ Association (IHMA) describes how holograms continue to successfully overcome counterfeiting problems in the pharmaceutical industry THE COUNTERFEIT THREAT
Sophisticated replication techniques have made counterfeiting and fraud a serious threat to the pharmaceutical industry. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that annual earnings from the global sales of counterfeit and substandard medicines amount to over $32 billion. Both drugs and packaging are counterfeited, putting people’s lives at risk. The diversion of legitimate product outside authorised distribution channels is another problem. In response to this, many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies have directed their efforts towards authenticating their packaging as part of the process of protecting their products. As a result, diffractive optically variable devices – referred to generically as holograms – have become one of the most widely-used overt authentication features on pharmaceutical products around the world. HOLOGRAMS AS A SOLUTION
Since Glaxo first used a tamper-evident hologram to seal packs of Zantac in 1989, holograms have been taken up in a big way by the whole industry. Many major drug companies use holograms on at least some of their medicines in selected markets and they are used in the form of labels, seals, hot stamped patches and blister-foils. The ability of the hologram to provide effective protection lies in the continuous innovation, invention and evolution in holographic techniques that have succeeded in creating increasingly complex devices that are easily recognised yet difficult to copy accurately. The evolving role of the hologram has also been accompanied by the increased use of the security device in combination with other authentication technologies. In such solutions holograms often provide overt first line authentication, while covert features such as scrambled images, microtext, UVsensitive or other specialist inks provide second line authentication for trained examiners equipped with the appropriate decoding equipment.
Another trend has seen the serialisation of holograms as part of systems that combine authentication with traceability. So called ‘track-and-trace’ systems link on-pack security devices with database management and field tracking services. In this way, the ability to know where a pharmaceuticals consignment has been, where it is now and where it is heading has become a fundamental part of many drugs companies’ production and logistical operations. This is particularly important where the ability to identify the source and provenance of products is becoming a mandatory requirement, as it is in the US with the FDA’s requirements for pedigree. |
