Lack of visibility in the supply chain along with the absence of tools to establish a difference between an original and a fake product is the primary factor leading to the rise of counterfeiting activities in the industry.
By Divay Kumar
Counterfeit products are a huge global problem and fake pharmaceuticals are a serious threat to the entire healthcare industry. Aware of these issues, pharmaceutical companies are focused on adopting technological and digital interventions to counter this problem. It’s not just only about the loss of revenue for the companies but the greater threat to the lives of people using counterfeit drugs.
Lack of visibility in the supply chain along with the absence of tools to establish a difference between an original and a fake product is the primary factor leading to the rise of counterfeiting activities in the industry.
During the outbreak of COVID-19, the market was flooded with sudden high demand for personal protection, specific drugs, and hygiene products. The critical time was misused by counterfeiters to introduce their stock of fake products in the market.
In raids led by International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) across 90 countries, authorities have seized nearly 34,000 substandard quality fake medicines, sprays, and masks. The law enforcement agencies have identified more than 2,000 online websites/links to fake products related to COVID-19 across the globe. The operation also revealed an increase in unauthorized antiviral medications and antimalarial chloroquine, Vitamin C, and painkillers among a few of the most counterfeit products in the market. Moreover, WHO has flagged the threat of fake COVID-19 vaccines circulation in the global market, and many have been arrested for administering fake vaccine drives in India.
The situation was an eye-opener for many pharma companies that have a focus on short-term profits with lean supply chain strategies, contributing to supply chain vulnerability.
Overt security features such as holograms, tampers, etc. have long been used to discourage the selling and purchase of counterfeits. However, with the improvement in digital printing, counterfeiters have become smart enough to copy them too. As the counterfeit industry grows and fraudsters improve counterfeiting techniques, established brands, as well as startups, are facing a daunting challenge in tackling the situation.
Experts suggest an ideal way to tackle the current situation and avoid future business disruptions is Digital Transformation. They believe that if advancement in technology has led to massive counterfeiting, then technology itself is capable of solving this grave problem.
In a bid to tackle this grappling issue pharmaceutical companies are investing in newer technological advances. One such technology is the track and trace solution using the serialization method. This is a widely adopted and reliable technique enforced by major pharmaceutical industries across the globe. The technique involves assigning unique identifiers to every individual product at a unit level within the manufacturing facilities.
These unique identifiers are usually unique codes printed on either primary, secondary or tertiary packaging of products, mostly depending on the nature of packaging and companies’ preferences. They serve two purposes: improving visibility into the pharma supply chain particularly during secondary sales (sales to retailer) and tertiary sales (sales to consumer). Secondly, it helps curb counterfeiting. End users can authenticate their purchases using the mobile app-based platform, by scanning the codes at any stage of the retail chain.
Over the last decade, many nations have mandated the implementation of serialization in pharmaceutical. Even the Indian pharmaceutical industry, the world’s third-largest in terms of volume is also set to mandate serialization in the coming years. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is growing at 17.7% annually, up from 13.7% in 2019-2020, and is expected to expand three times in the next decade. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) said that almost 20% of all pharmaceutical goods sold in the Indian market are counterfeit.
To counter the issue of increasing counterfeiting, Pharma companies need to implement technologies that will provide end-to-end visibility into product movement.
Achieving a certainty that drugs are genuine is very crucial. Digital enterprises with cloud-based solutions provide pharmaceutical companies with reaping benefits and capabilities to deliver excellence via operational efficiency and automated workflows.
Developments in AI (Artificial Intelligence), Blockchain, Big Data Analytics, and Data Science have the capability to completely change how pharmaceutical industries work. Using advanced technologies manufacturers can gain complete control over their supply chains and track product movement until it reaches its end-user. These technologies are capable of bringing warehouses, distributors, retailers, and consumers on an easy to interact, mobile/web app-based platform and provide actionable insights that will help organizations to optimize their future planning and production.
(The author is Co-founder & CEO – O4S. The article is for informational purposes only. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the Financial Express Online.)
