Anti-counterfeiting packaging post-Brexit

Sue Ellison, joint MD of OPM (labels and packaging) Group looks at how counterfeiting measures for pharmaceuticals packaging are being affected in a post-Brexit world.  

Counterfeit drugs are big business. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimate the total value of counterfeit pharmaceuticals traded worldwide to be up to EUR 4.03 billion.

The impact on the healthcare industry is significant. A UK survey carried out by Sapio Research, and commissioned by a private company INCOPRO, concludes that almost one-third (32%) of those who have bought one or more counterfeit medicines have suffered a health issue as a result.

Anti-counterfeiting measures help ensure healthcare professionals and patients are getting the products they need from the brands they trust – and it protects brands from losing millions each year. 

When the UK was still part of the European Union, it could rely on information relating to pharmaceutical drugs via the European Medicines Verification System. When Brexit became a reality in January 2021 however, it significantly changed how British businesses operate and function.

The Brexit agreement also impacts the packaging aspect of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK. The pharmaceutical sector has to ensure its products are tamper-proof and not counterfeit. From January 1, 2021, it has 36 months to ensure all stock released to the UK market is in compliant packaging, according to the UK government's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

With new technologies and legislation, there’s a need for new materials that can meet the needs and demands of pharmaceutical packaging. Labelling solutions should be designed to meet strict regulations and supplied as compliance-tested and proven authentic material solutions.

Ultimately, the correct label technology depends on precise application requirements and the known threats that need to be addressed. Following are a range of options for brands to consider:

Anti-counterfeit PSA Labelling Solutions

Pharmaceutical labels with an NFC inlay have a unique digital identity that can be tracked and traced online across the supply chain. Combining NFC tagging and blockchain record-keeping can provide brands and consumers with a complete, tamper-proof, easily accessible view into a product's provenance and journey through the supply chain. Intelligent labels like NFC deliver the added benefit of meeting increasing government and consumer demands for visibility into every step of a product’s journey from source to shelf.

3D

Security 3D lenticular printing is a high-precision security feature that creates images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles on a security sticker. This type of printing security feature can combine multiple anti-counterfeiting technologies to form a comprehensive anti-counterfeiting solution.

PSA labelling anti-counterfeiting

Materials with luminescent top coating in either blue, yellow, or red colour are used instead of varnish to simplify processes and quality maintenance. When combined with dedicated TE adhesives, it offers an additional tamper-evident feature indicating box damage, label damage or visible evidence for example.

Customised ink and coatings 

There are several overt and covert ink and coating technologies that can be applied during the printing process to create an anti-counterfeit solution. These include:

Colour change inks incorporating heat-sensitive thermochromic performance

Shadow printing on the reverse of the face material - between the film and the adhesive - transfer tape

Holographic foils, such as Cast ‘N’ Cure, can change one of the texts by a single point size which is unknown to the fraudster

Micro text

Photochromic inks - pale inks that burst into colour when exposed to UV light (sunlight or black light)

Multiple micro-perforations can be incorporated – this needs to be assessed case by case to meet the application requirements

Pearlescent varnishes with metallic effects

Taggant technology

Testing has shown that the taggant additives exhibit a greater relative intensity, so less material is required to achieve the same degree of detectability. Taggant technology is invisible to the naked eye and is only identifiable by a proprietary detection unit. The detectors can be programmed to locate a single additive or up to one hundred different combinations of additives.

Today and tomorrow

In the UK, the pharmaceutical sector has an array of anti-counterfeiting packaging and label choices it can adopt in becoming compliant with the MHRA. By partnering with a British printer that understands what is required, pharmaceutical companies can address their packaging requirements within the allotted time frame, with ease.