Mumbai-based Unichem will begin printing anti-counterfeiting product-identifier codes on the packaging of two drugs slated for India-wide distribution. The codes will be integrated into existing manufacturing processes at two Unichem plants.
The two drugs being marked with the coding system--anti-anxiety treatment Trika and the anti-hypertensive Losar-H--are "high-volume and fast-moving products," says Nathan Sigworth, CEO at system provider PharmaSecure, via email. "They allow trials and implementation at a variety of types of packaging facilities."
Unichem has purchased 70 million of the codes, to be printed on strips on the drug packaging. The primary users are consumers, who can check a drug's authenticity by texting the code to a number that appears next to it on the drug package. Users then receive a return text message authenticating the drug or advising that it's a fake.
The code-application system is integrated into the packaging process, and it neither slows the manufacturing line nor requires significant changes to it, says Sigworth.
- here's the Unichem release