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Anti-counterfeit packaging for pharma products
Many studies have shown that about 20 - 40 % of pharmaceutical brands/products are counterfeited in India. Counterfeiters only attack the successful brand and they milk that brand for all its worth. Then they move onto the next brand leader, the original brand having lost ground because of lack of consumer confidence. When there is bad experience with a product the consumer may just stop buying it and the company may see some downward trend in sales; it is often rare for consumers to lodge complaint against the legitimate brand. This could have considerable
implication to the operation; with the regulatory bodies possibly causing yhe closure of plant and consequent loss of earnings, image & confidence in the brand.
Company staff is promoted for reducing spending rather than in brand protection and investing in the future of the company. As the company does not suffer any cash loss due to counterfeiting, so the matter is not regarded as critical to the well being of the company. Even though counterfeits have a detrimental effect on the brand and future of the company.
Whether to invest or not in a counterfeit solution is often left to be actioned by executives who do not clearly understand the impact of counterfeiting, so it is not actioned. Today there are several cost effective, world proven anti counterfeit solutions available, which can check counterfeit activity very successfully. It is certainly amazing that the companies are ready to spend
crores of Rupees just to increase their market share by a few % points, but do not show the same commitment when it comes to regain market share by implementing brand authentication or protection systems which gain even more share of the market for very much less.
It is now being argued internationally, that manufacturers may be held liable for injuries suffered by consumer of counterfeit products if it could be proven that counterfeiting of the product was foreseeable and if there are cost effective ways of protecting and preventing the product from being counterfeited. It is obvious tha t the pos s ibi l i ty of counterfeiting is foreseeable and experience of companies that have taken a lead in protacting their brands is very positive. International companies use overt anti counterfeit systems like holograms because they are able to make a return of 600%-2000% return or Rs.6 to Rs.20/- for Rupee invested in the hologram security to protect the brand. The returns are real and tangible. Corporations the world over and in India continues to use the hologram because they make returns, which far outweigh the input costs.
It is now becoming imperative that companies take action to protect their
brands in an increasingly open market place. Pharma companies must stop using simplistic packaging which enables the counterfeiters to easily copy and duplicate brands. Responsible pharma companies must take action so that their packaging is resistant to being counterfeited and or reuse e.g.
glass bottles and vials. There are already solutions to combat such unauthorised reuse or duplications of packaging. It has been proven internationally that packages incorporating holograms combat counterfeiting and increase market share, and its positive effect on the bottem line. It should be almost mandatory for companies to have active anticounterfeit strategies in place. With increasing spurious activeteis and it is acknowledged that organised crime is taking move than passing interset in counterfeiting because its more profitable than drugs and without the dangers of detection. Today the most cost effective method to combat counterfeiting and build consumer confidence is the incorporation of holograms on the product or on the packaging. Holograms as anticounterfeit devices are so successful that now about 36 currencies around the world have holograms including the Swiss Frank, Euro, British
Sterling, etc.The popular media for holograms has been the classic sticker form. This has proved very successful for most application but sticker always has an “add on” look and can be costly to apply manually. However, now holograms are available in a whole range of media and can be easily incorporated onto the packaging.Holotechs the logo name of Holographic Security Marking Systems P. Limited of Mumbai has designed and developed a range of products to combat counterfeiting, specifically for the pharmaceutical industry. It has what appears to be the widest range of products in Asia and already exports holograms from India.
Holotechs products known as PharmaSeal have been developed with the following objective :
  • Zero capital expenditure
  • Zero labour increase
  • Capable of being used on existing machinery
  • Direct replacement of existing materials
  • Intergrated into manufacturing process for increased security.
The above was a guidingfactor while developing PharmaSeal because the company having discussed with several pharmaceutical company and found that the major concerns with the companies is that there should be no increase in labour. This has been achieved by developing products, which easily integrate into the manufacturing process. An integrated produ-
ct means it becomes part of the known supply chain; requires careful technical backup and knowledge of processes all of which helps to increase the security element. Unlike a simple hologram label that appears as an after thought and it is not part of the manufacturing process.
The PharmaSeal range includes :
  • Holographic wet labels or as self adhesive labels,
  • Holographic aluminium blister lidding foils,
  • Holographic aluminium tablet strip foil,
  • Holographic PVC for tablet blister formatiom,
  • Holographic stripe for online application to PVC,
  • Holographic tamper evident seals,
  • Holographic aluminium capsealswhich seal to HPD or PET.
Each of this products is specially tailored to meet specific end use :
  • The wet label products is exactly the same as the existing label, except that it has a hologram on the label. The hologram can be any shape, position and size, etc. This is one of the most efficient ways of using the hologram to authenticate products. The holographic label runs on existing machinery and requires sophisticated hot stamping equipment for its production and adds visibility to the package.
  • Holographic Blister lidding foil - this product is unique. Most application in the West have all over holograms, (while it may be Ok in the West, where there is little statutory information printed on the foil) which makes whatever is printed on top difficult to read; so Holotechs have developed the aluminium foil with the stripe. This enables easy viewing of the printed matter and as stripe has to be carefully printed on the foil, it adds that extra sophistication to the package.
  • Holographic tablet strip foil - is similar to the blister lidding foil except that it is soft tempered and available in 25-45 microns in thickness. The design of the artwork should be such that hologram ocupies an area over the blister or tablet cavities. This ensures best viewability of the hologram, as the knurling will reduce the brilliance of the hologram.
  • Hologram PVC for blister formation Hologram on PVC as an all over hologram will obscure the view of tablets in the blister foil. Therefore, a hologram stripe is ideal. There would be one stripe per blister strip. The advantage of this is that often a single stock line of hologramed PVC be used for a various products, this helps to keep inventories low.
  • Holographic tamper evident Seals are the traditional product range which are often used for carton sealing and for tamper resistance / evidence.
  • Holographic CapSeal - these are aluminium induction capseals with holograms. Holographic capseals offer an excellent and unique toolproof anti counterfeit device; an intact seal which is not damaged authenticates that the contents have not been tampered with.
    Each product is made for a particular application & is designed to integrate into the production process and the material being sourced from known reliable supplier also helps to increase the security. Now Ph a rma compani es can combat counterfieting, comply with international standard of good practice to safeguard the consumers while s imultaneous ly protecting their reputation brand and increase sales and profits.
Source : Rohitt D. Mistry, Holographic Security Marking Systems P. Limited.
 
benefits
  • Cannot be copied or duplicated.
  • Cannot be tampered or re-used.
  • Can be easily applied to the product or documents.
  • Easily verifiable by the user / manufacturer.
  • Total brand protection.
  • Tamper-evident pilfer proof solutions.
  • Foolproof document authentication.
  • Our most modern mastering facility that provides no scope whatsoever for any kind of duplication.