- Arvato Systems will continue to deliver IT solutions to help in the fight against counterfeit medications for another ten years
- ACS places their confidence in stable, high-availability end-to-end IT solutions to protect against counterfeit medication
According to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), figures given by customs show a sharp rise in the trade of counterfeit medication. Manufacturers of medicinal products, pharmaceutical wholesalers and pharmacy retailers are all involved in the securPharm initiative whose goal is to protect the legal supply chain against the infiltration of counterfeit preparations.
In accordance with the delegated regulation on EU Counterfeit Directive 2011/62, from February 9, 2019 onwards all prescription medication will have to have two defined security features: the unique identifier, an individual randomly-generated identification number, which in conjunction with a product code will ensures that every package is unique, and an anti-tampering device that also protects against manipulation. The directive aims to protect patients against the dangers posed by counterfeit medication in the legal supply chain.
As long ago as 2013, as part of a securPharm pilot project, Arvato Systems had already provided an IT system to verify the authenticity of medications throughout the supply chain. To use the end-to-end system the pharmaceutical manufacturer creates a unique identifier during the production process for each pack. At the end of the supply chain, the pharmacist is able to verify and to book out the product when selling it to the patient. The securPharm implementation and the new security features together make this the largest infrastructure project in EU Pharmaceutical supply.
After a successful pilot project, Arvato Systems will take over operations and future development of the IT system for the securPharm initiative from February 9, 2019.
“In Arvato Systems we have an IT partner by our side who is able to fulfil all of our requirements”, says Dr. Wolfgang Stock, Managing Director, ACS Pharma Protect GmbH. “During the pilot project we were already able to benefit from their technical expertise in product serialization. Our long-term partnership shows that we will continue to rely on Arvato Systems and their proven IT solutions”.
“We are delighted with the confidence in our expertise, our high-availability IT solutions and we look forward to continuing to work with our trusted partners in the securPharm initiative”, says Peter Koop, Vice President Healthcare, Arvato Systems.
Several other countries within the EU and the European Economic Area are already showing interest in Arvato Systems’ ability to develop and operate IT platforms for the verification of medical products. The first projects are already in initialization or implementation phases.
