Finding the frauds: Schreiner MediPharm introduces a digital counterfeiting detection solution 

07 Sep 2018 --- Schreiner MediPharm, a Germany-based provider of specialty pharmaceutical labeling solutions, has introduced BitSecure Mobile, a digital counterfeiting detection solution to help fight illegal trade in counterfeit medicines. The solution aim to help suppliers meet the strict requirements of the EU Directive 2011/62/EU that comes into effect on February 9, 2019, at which time pharma manufacturers must equip secondary packaging units with individual serial numbers and an anti-tampering device that proves the package’s integrity, the company notes. The US is similarly looking to bolster its regulations. 

“These solutions came about both [to answer] the need to protect the supply chain – particularly the pharma supply chain, but the nutritional market is also quite viable – and also due to serialization/anti-counterfeiting regulations that are taking effects, in phases, around the world,” Christopher Dale, a spokesperson for the company, tells NutritionInsight. 

The digital security feature is based on a printed high-resolution, cloud-like random pattern. If anyone attempts to copy the BitSecure pattern, which is only a few square millimeters in size, the printed image suffers a loss in precision and visual details. These differences can be analyzed quantitatively via a smartphone and the respective software to distinguish fraudulent copies from originals reliably.

The new app enables authentication via smartphone and can be executed quickly in the field. This real-time verification may prove highly beneficial for the pharma sector, where determinations of “fake or real” often must be made at hospitals, pharmacies, or at customs or police. 

The BitSecure app allows authentication to be performed easily with the help of a user-friendly, intuitive interface. Additionally, the back-end data management system is integrated into one robust, future-proof development environment.

“With enforcement deadlines of both US and EU regulations fast-approaching, the easy digital authentication of pharma packaging using a smartphone app comes at an ideal time,” says Gene Dul, President of Schreiner MediPharm US.