Coding pilot project to get under way

Government and industry proposals for combating the counterfeiting of medicines has cropped up several times in this column - most recently following the proposals issued by the European Commission at the end of 2008.

Part of the Commission's strategy is verification of product authenticity at the point of dispensing. Industry has consistently supported this concept and the European Pharmaceutical Trade Association, (EFPIA) has made earlier proposals for a solution by which pharmacists will check a unique identification code on each individual pack when it is dispensed to the patient.

These codes are generated and applied by manufacturers using a simple 2D data matrix barcode that contains a unique serial number. The scan will reveal any duplication of data on packs and will immediately trigger the system to alert the pharmacist to the possibility of a counterfeit product. EFPIA maintains that the coding solution, which is being developed in collaboration with GIRP (the European Federation of full line wholesalers), could provide an efficient and cost-effective method to meet the Commission's traceability requirement.

EFPIA recently announced that it has agreed to run a pilot of its coding and identification solution later this year in partnership with the Swedish retail pharmacy chain Apoteket and two local wholesalers. The pilot is expected to last between three and four months and will be entirely financed by the pharma industry. It will be a scaled-down version of a full EFPIA solution: a key goal is to demonstrate that it is a practical and effective solution for manufacturers, pharmacists and patients alike, providing a standardised and interoperable system throughout Europe.

The outcomes of the pilot scheme will be awaited with interest by all involved.