Combating the Increase of Counterfeit Drugs in the Medical Supply Chain

It is hard to imagine a world without the invention of life-saving medicines; they have prolonged the lives of millions and improved the quality of life for even more people. Despite the fact that humanity as a whole has benefited so much from medicine, there are unfortunately still those who are keen to profit from the illegal trade of counterfeit medicines and put the lives of others at risk.

Research by the World Health Organisation (WHO), suggested that in 2009 there were 20 million pills, bottles and sachets of counterfeit and illegal medicines available on the black market.  While one would usually assume that this illicit trade was reserved for countries in the third-world, sadly this is not actually the case and raids and seizures of counterfeit medicine has appeared in numerous different continents; this includes the EU where 34 million counterfeit pills were seized in 2 months alone in 2009.

The reasons for the increase in the trade of counterfeit medicines can certainly be attributed to the rise of the internet, with more and more people now having access to the technology. This, coupled with the inability of certain people being able to afford genuine medicines, can certainly be attributed to the rise in counterfeit medicine entering the medical supply chain.

It is should hardly come as a surprise that along with the increased production and seizure of counterfeit drugs, there has also been an increase in the tightening of the medical supply chain by both pharmacy wholesalers and supply chain management.

Unlike other industries, the medical supply chain is more vulnerable due to the fact that medicine can be contaminated, contain the wrong or no active ingredients, or perhaps have the correct active ingredient, but at the wrong dose. As you would expect, due to the fact that so many people rely on medicines, counterfeit medicine has serious consequences for those who are exposed to them.

There have, however, been numerous recent steps to combat the emergence of and growth of counterfeit drugs; a biotech company named Applied DNA Sciences just might have come up with a method to finally end the inability to quickly identify counterfeit products. The ground-breaking method means that each pharmaceutical unit contains a unique genetic signature that can detect with relatively simple chemical assessments.

It remains to be seen just how effective this technology will be but it will certainly help ensure that the most vulnerable people in the world will finally have the protection that they deserve. However, the worldwide issue of poverty will mean that there will sadly always be a market for counterfeit medicine due to the fact that these people have no other choice but to risk their lives in their quest for health.