West Pharma brings anti-fake tech to injectables
has develop a system of anticounterfeiting measures for its
Flip-Off seals, widely used for injectable drugs that are withdrawn
from vials by a syringe.
The new products, marketed under the West Spectra brand, use a combination of overt, covert and track-and-trace technologies to help to ensure product authenticity.
At the end of March, West Pharma chief executive Donald Morel gave a presentation to analysts, at which anti-counterfeiting closures were highlighted as one of the key growth opportunities for the company, along with barrier films and coating and its Westar brand of injectable components.
A report published last month in the open-access health journal PloS Medicine suggested that up to 15 per cent of all drugs sold worldwide - worth of $35 billion (€25bn) - are fakes.
At the core of the West Spectra system are radiofrequency identification (RFID) and spectroscopic inks, two technologies recommended by the US Food and drug Administration (FDA) last year to help guard against drug counterfeiting and tampering.
West Spectra permits manufacturers to layer and periodically change security features on their drug packaging. The overt technology incorporates high-resolution, full-colour graphics for immediate identification and product differentiation. Meanwhile, sophisticated covert inks can be applied for rapid spectroscopic authentication of the drug package at any point in the supply chain.
The RFID functionality - which allows products to be automatically scanned from a distance and does away with the need to swipe a bar code - has been developed alongside specialist company Tagsys USA.
"By combining RFID with Flip-Off seals, West Spectra provides high density simultaneous read, write and non- line-of-site verification of sealed packaging," said the company. Electronically stored data will quickly determine authenticity, making inventory secure and easier to manage, according to West Pharma.
Historically, printing warning statements or critical medicament and dosing information directly and visibly on the aluminium shell or button of the parenteral drug package has been widely accepted as a means of last check authentication, and heightening awareness for compliance at point of use, said Morel. West Spectra takes this to a higher level, he suggested.
Morel said that the West Spectra range would be manufactured at plants in both Europe and the US 'to help ensure a consistent source of supply for global markets'.
West Pharma is among the world's leading companies for injectable drug components and packaging, with sales of $541 million last year. Pharmaceutical packaging made up $390m of that total, out of an overall market estimated by the company at $1.1 billion.
