INJECTION MOLDING
SUMITOMO (SHI) DEMAG EXPLAINS HOW USING THIN WALL MOLDING TO APPLY THE LATEST INJECTION MOLDING PRECISION TECHNIQUES TO STEP UP THEIR FIGHT AGAINST PHARMA FAKERS TO MITIGATE RISKS AND SAFEGUARD BRAND INTEGRITY.
FIGHTING PHARMA FAKERS
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harmaceutical safety demands traceability. Yet, even with stringent serialization standards and covert technologies like barcodes, holograms, sealing tapes, and radio frequency identification devices to preserve the integrity of the pharmaceutical products, counterfeiting remains a multi-billion-dollar industry with bootlegging of devices and falsification of medicines and wellbeing products rife.
However, these are the visible parts that are being detected. The dark web is a whole different story with the repackaging of medicines resulting in even more complex and covert criminal channels.
The pandemic added further to these pressures. High demand for PPE, test kits, broken supply chains and fewer physical audits amplified the risks of opportunists and illicit trade networks. The impact was significant reports the OECD. Enforcement authorities reported a sharp uptick in seizures of all types of medical products. During the height of the pandemic, the World Customs Organization supposedly seized 200 Covid-19-related products. In addition, the EU purported countless examples of substandard products, non-compliance and falsified certificates of conformity.
Packaging specialist at Sumitomo (SHI) Demag UK Ashlee Gough examines how specialist closure and thin wall molders can apply the latest injection molding precision and In Mold Labelling (IML) techniques to step up their fight against these pharma fakes to mitigate risks, safeguard consumers and protect brand integrity.
The economic cost of IPR infringement is huge and extends right across the world. In their most recent report, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) put the annual cost of fake medicines at €10.2 billion per annum. Equating to approximately 4.4% of sales across the sector in Europe alone. These lost sales convert into direct employment losses. The EU calculates it at nearly 38,000 jobs. Although this doesn’t factor in imports. Nor the trade in counterfeit products via non-EU channels. THE DARK WEB Notably, the pharma and perfumery sectors incur the highest propensity for e-commerce infringements. As testimony to the scale of the situation, Interpol’s Operation Pangea XIV in May 2021 shut down more than 100,000 online market places, with over 70% of seizure cases at EU borders relating to Internet sales.
WWW.MEDICALPLASTICSNEWS.COM
It’s not just brand revenue through lost sales that suffers from counterfeiting. Illicit medicines can contain lethal ingredients, such as mercury, arsenic, rat poison or cement, which can be harmful when consumed. Others can just be ineffective. Lower quality cosmetics may cause skin inflammations. Causing consumers to lay the blame on authentic brands and diminishing brand equity.
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