Anti-counterfeiting technology - A must have for pharmaceutical organizations

International free trade and inadequate drug regulation have led to the expansion of trade in counterfeit drugs worldwide. Almost 10 % of medicines representing close to 75billion dollars globally are said to be illegal. Around 1% of products in the legal pharmaceutical supply chain in the developed world are estimated to be counterfeit, while this figure is 10-15% in emerging markets and 30% in developing countries. Drug counterfeiting is expected to increase in the future as pharma is expanding to emerging and developing market where this demand for pharmaceuticals products will increase the supply of counterfeit drugs in future. Technological protection is seen to be the best way to avoid this problem, which will strengthen the security of pharmaceutical supply chain through innovative technologies like overt, covert, forensic and track & trace. This article will emphasize on the use of such technologies in pharma.