Irish engineering consultancy Horizon says it has developed tracking systems designed to limit the circulation of counterfeit drugs. The firm has completed tests on its system with three pharmaceutical companies based in Ireland, Belgium and the US, it said. The track and trace or serialization systems help the pharma sector control supply chain security, patient safety and compliance with future regulatory requirements. Horizon said many counterfeiters had access to the same high-tech equipment as authentic manufacturers, making it difficult to differentiate between fake and genuine medicines. According to reports, more than 11 million counterfeit or illegal medicines were stopped at the EU borders in 2009. Most of these drugs would have ended up being sold online by illegitimate or unethical companies and many would have found their way into legal distribution systems such as hospitals and pharmacies – putting those seriously ill at risk. But, Horizon says with serialization, a unique identifier, like a passport or finger-print, can be allocated to an individual product, monitoring its journey from production right to the customer.
