Anti-Counterfeiting in the pharma industry – Latest Packaging Trends & Technologies

easyFairs, the trade show specialists, are launching a new pharmaceutical workshop which will be making its debut at the easyFairs  packaging shows @ NEC, Birmingham, UK this February. The event will be organised and delivered by Design Cognition and an array of experts from the anti-counterfeiting & packaging industries.

The new ‘Pharma counterfeiting workshop’ will help delegates identify the key issues, and look at emerging packaging trends and technologies, including all sorts of overt (visible) solutions such as holograms and covert (hidden) solutions including various printing, coating and forensic technologies.

Leading thinkers and experts in the industry, will provide an unbiased and independent overview to help attendees see the ‘wood from the trees’. Taking place on 29 February (9.30am – 1.30pm) the workshop is being billed as one of the main highlights of the easyFairs event, which last year attracted over 4,500 visitors.

Amongst the speakers, Anne Dallison, Fellow of the Packaging Society and CTO at Design Cognition commented: “In a dynamic market, as well as providing a fantastic opportunity to get the latest perspective from industry experts such as the MHRA & PAGB on packaging implications of legislation such as the Falsified Medicines Directive and what it could mean for Brand Owners, this workshop will also provide an unrivalled and cost-effective means of networking with industry peers and leading-edge experts from the world of anti-counterfeiting. So if you want to stay one step ahead – you can’t afford to miss this!”

Also speaking at the show will be Jeremy Plimmer, Editor/Publisher at Product & Image Security Foundation and Chairman of West Midlands Packaging Society, who will be focusing on ‘Security Packaging – Is it a necessity or unnecessary expense.’  James Bevan, Director at Vandagraf and Agent for NetEnforcers in Europe will be looking at Internet Security and how to catch the fakers and identify fake sites.

Counterfeiting of products and packaging has become a multi-billion business, toys, dietary supplements, wine and iPhones are among the tens of thousands of counterfeit items seized every year. The speakers will bring the topics to life with real-life, hands-on examples and are encouraging delegates to bring their own packs along for a free counterfeit – audit, which can be conducted separately in a confidential environment if necessary.

Matt Benyon, Managing Director at easyFairs, comments: “Fake goods are certainly big business, especially in all this economic gloom. Intellectual property crime is estimated to be worth around £1.3bn in the UK each year and the Anti-Counterfeiting group, estimate that 12% of toys for sale in the UK are fakes. With ‘fake’ goods being such a hot topic we saw the importance of providing a comprehensive workshop concentrating just on this area, it is vital that packaging companies  help protect brands and retailers against counterfeiting with holograms or covert printing solutions.”

If you are interested in attending the Anti-Counterfeiting workshop you can register for the event here: Online Registration Form

Or for further information and a full list of speakers please contact Chris Penfold, CEO of Design Cognition, on +44 (0)115 846 1914 or email chris@designcognition.com

Delegate Fee: £149 – Fee includes full set of course documentation as well as refreshments and lunch. Places are limited and expected to go very quickly, so book early to avoid any disappointment.

We look forward to seeing you there.

We’ve also got another 8 or 9 courses & workshops planned in for June and July. As well as our highly acclaimed ‘Plastics Materials’ course, we have many new topics, including ‘bar coding (including mass serialisation)’, ’sustainability’, ‘Medical Devices’, ‘Print processes & decoration’, ‘Glass’, ‘Blister materials’, ‘Regulatory aspects’ and ‘Innovation, creativity & breakthrough thinking’.

So watch this space – We’ll keep you updated!

Follow this link to view our latest training courses

Have a great Easter!

Chris Penfold

There are an ever-increasing number of ‘medical device’ products coming to market or existing products changing their classification to ‘medical device’ to give greater flexibility in the market. The boundary between Medical Devices and packaging is becoming ever-more blurred as the followng areas converge: smartphone technology, materials technology, internet capabilities & bandwidth, Wi-Fi and Near Field Communications (NFC). This is particularly evident in the area of patient compliance (adherence) and to a lesser extent, also in the areas of anti-counterfeiting and Track & Trace.

The route to CE marking depends on the risk classification of your device and also on how many you manufacture. The development of a device is heavily regulated and various criteria need to have been checked and decisions/design routes justified and recorded.

The Manufacturers or their authorised representative must follow one of several routes in order to CE mark their devices and legally sell or distribute them on the European market.
The Brand owner for the device will also have some of the responsibilities of the manufacturer.

The Team at Design Cognition have been involved in many successful device developments and understand what is required to develop a device/product that will meet the stringent criteria laid down by the various authorities. We can provide support for your project from concept through development, authorisation and commercialisation or even for the reviews. We are here to help, so give us a call!

Chris Penfold

Our Injection Moulding and Tooling course has been filling up fast and places are now very limited.  To avoid the disappointment of missing out on this great offer, don’t delay, contact us today.

To find out more information about this great course just click Injection Moulding and Tooling Course or to register click Register for Injection Moulding and Tooling Course 

Alternatively just give us a call +44(0) 115841914

Look forward to seeing you there.

Jane

If you are involved in the design or development of injection moulded thermoplastic parts, whether packaging, delivery systems or devices, and want to save huge amounts of time, money & hassle, this 1 day course is for you – especially if you would like to be able to:

- Understand the key terms and phrases associated with injection moulding machines, the process and a basic multi cavity hot runner mould tool configuration.

- Have the knowledge and confidence to interact on an even level with suppliers when specifying, sourcing and managing a plastics moulding, tooling project through to final acceptance.

- Recognise common moulding faults and implement a course of remedial action quickly.

- Create a bespoke mould tool specification documents for your own components. This will enable you to not only understand your current suppliers documentation, but also compare alternative suppliers on a like-for-like basis.

There is an EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT, but HURRY, the discount ends Friday 24th December 2010.

To find out more, check out: Packaging Training Courses – More Information

or email Training@DesignCognition.Com

Alternatively just give us a call on +44 (0) 115 8461914

Look forward to seeing you there!

On November 3, ANVISA posted a Normative Instruction to the Daily Journal (Brazil’s equivalent to the United States’s Federal Register) detailing its decision to move forward with the self-adhesive security labels supplied by the Brazilian Mint (known by its Portuguese initials: CMB-Casa da Moeda). According to Schmitt’s translation, ANVISA states in the Instruction that “the self-adhesive labels shall contain an individual, unique, and non-repetitive identifier, called the IUM (Brazilian Initials for Unique Drug Identifier), printed in legible characters, and consisting of a two dimensional bar code. . . . The other specifications of self-adhesive labels are the responsibility of the Mint of Brazil and will be published by that entity.”

The self-adhesive labels, often called “Safety Labels” or “Stamps” by ANVISA, “will be supplied by the CMB to each company with drug registration in Brazil, regularized with ANVISA.”

The labels will feature an “invisible marker” for authentication that can only be recognized by the special readers. Measuring 19 × 25 mm, the labels will feature “micro fibers and coloured beads visible only under ultraviolet light” along with “micro cuttings to protect against attempted tampering,” Schmitt reports.

Over the next seven months, ANVISA will be supplying readers to pharmacies at no cost to them, which will enable them to authenticate the labels.

“Data from the security labels will be connected via the IUM and Brazil’s Electronic Invoice system and will be the responsibility of the Treasury Secretary of Brazil,” Schmitt explains.

“Pharmaceutical companies have 60 days to enroll in the program (not to implement) by signing a contract with the CMB,” Schmitt adds. “Shipment of the labels to the pharmaceutical company must begin within 60 days after the contract has been signed.”

Companies will have six months to start using the label for products produced in Brazil and 12 months for products imported into Brazil, Schmitt reports. After January 15, 2012, all pharmaceutical products sold in Brazil are required to have the safety label on their packaging.

Watch this space for further updates. You can read other pharmaceutical & healthcare-based packaging articles by following this link to Design Cognition Pharmaceutical Posts

Or follow this one to read the full Brazilian serialisation PMPNews article

Chris  Penfold

We are running a 1 day Pharmaceutical Packaging training course (Introductory level), which should be of interest to some of you.

By following the link below you will be able to download a PDF ’flyer’ & Registration form.

NB Anyone interested needs to be quick because we only have a couple of places remaining.

Do you work in the pharmaceutical industry on the ‘periphery’ of packaging, working for example in Production, Marketing, Purchasing, Design or QA etc , and need to find out more about packaging, but without having to attend a lengthy 3 day training course? Or perhaps you are a Packaging Technologist new to the area and want to gain a better understanding of pharma issues and opportunities?

If so, then this ONE DAY TRAINING COURSE could be for you! 

It’s being held on 14th October 2010 at Biocity Nottingham, UK

Find out more here:   Pharmaceutical Packaging Training Information

Every day millions of patients fail to take their medications as prescribed by their doctor. Medication non-adherence is a problem that disrupts the healthcare system in many ways, leading to patients failing to receive full treatment benefit. Non-adherence can lead to hospitalisation and even death.

The root of this problem is human behaviour. Even though we are “creatures of habit”, we often lose momentum when taking medications, or do not always understand or appreciate the benefits. Subsequently, patients often tell an ‘untruth’ to mask the fact and avoid embarrassment, whether non-compliance was accidental or planned.

Just follow the link to read the full article on ‘How Can Intelligent Packaging Best Aid Patient Compliance?’

The US-based Digimarc Corporation has recently been working very closely with New Jersey-based Catalent Pharma Solutions, a leading provider of innovative packaging solutions to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and consumer healthcare industries to take interactive pharmaceutical packaging to the ‘next level’. It has licensed its mobile visual search software that, together with it’s leading-edge Chroma watermark printing technology, will allow Catalent to deliver new Media Enhanced Packaging solutions to its clients worldwide that will instantly connect consumers to a range of network services from printed packaging, inserts, and labels using smart phones and other digital devices.

Digimarc’s mobile software enables the phone’s camera to “see” digital data that has been embedded into all forms of printed materials, including advertisements, editorial content, brochures, posters, product packaging, labels and more. Unlike 2D barcodes or QR codes, the digital codes do not take up precious space on packages, and they are imperceptible to human senses, but can easily be detected by computers, networks, and today’s most popular smart phones. So they not only open up all sorts of possibilities for more advanced covert counterfeiting measures to be taken, but also for additional patient and Healthcare Practitioner (HCP) information, advice and interaction.

You can read a more information at www.digimarc.com and www.catalent.com

We are really passionate about helping our clients identify and implement new and exciting technologies so why not give us a call now and see how we can help you – +44(0)115 8461914

You can find other related Design Cognition articles on ‘Intelligent’ packaging & technology here:

Design Cognition Technology Insights & News

Chris Penfold

Are you new to packaging or working on the edge of the packaging arena and you’d like to know more about the basics of packaging? But can’t afford huge amounts of time away from the office to attend a full in-depth course? If so then this course may be for you. It will give you a broad overview in a condensed format that will help you gain a better appreciation of all of the relevant issues to enable you to do your job better.

For more information on this or other training courses we are running please visit Design Cognition Training