Effective Protection from Dangerous Counterfeit Medications

The number of counterfeit pharmaceuticals in Europe is increasing considerably, the EU warned at the beginning of last week. In targeted customs checks carried out in every member state, 34 million counterfeit pills were seized within just two months. EU Commissioner Günter Verheugen has even used the term attempted mass murder in his remarks on the situation. According to the most recent estimates, six to ten percent of the pharmaceutical products traded on the world market are counterfeit – and the number is rising. A new solution from tesa scribos offers effective protection against this problem.

Especially for large-volume mass-market items including lifestyle drugs such as erectile dysfunction treatments, weight loss pills, or hair growth treatments, as well as for widely used drugs such as antibiotics and pain medications, the growing number of counterfeit products is increasingly having a negative impact on the image, consumer confidence, and sales volume of brand-name manufacturers. To counter this trend, tesa scribos has developed an additional security solution as part of its comprehensive safety and security concept aimed at providing protection from brand piracy and merchandise theft along the supply chain: the tesa® CodeSeal. Its key feature: an integrated code.

Conventional security labels identify packages that have been opened improperly as the product passes through the logistics chain. They have not typically been able to provide proof of the product’s authenticity or origin – until now. With tesa® CodeSeal, tesa scribos®, an affiliate of tesa SE, is going one step further. The label combines visible evidence of tampering with an individual security code. What’s really special about it is that the label and the code are inseparable. Every label has its own, computer-generated identity. The encryption method used in CodeSeal keeps counterfeiters from generating valid product codes. And because the code is integrated into the CodeSeal label, attempts to copy it are blocked from the outset. Additional content, such as bar codes used to track merchandise, can also be easily incorporated into the design.

All of the types of the new tesa® CodeSeal offer the ability to check whether a product is genuine either with or without a database solution. The safety code, which becomes visible or fully visible when the label is removed, can be verified with the naked eye or via Internet or SMS. In addition to pure authentication applications, every code can also be used as an access code for customer or product registration processes in customer incentive programs.

All tesa® CodeSeal labels also offer a great deal of space for customer-specific designs. From the size and geometric layout to color and the security effect, all CodeSeal elements can be aligned to product and brand requirements.

With the new safety and security label for mass markets, tesa scribos® is expanding on its extensive safety and security concept, which includes both strategic consulting services and a broad spectrum of state-of-the-art security and application technologies. Among them are the tesa Holospot®, which supplies outstanding protection from counterfeiting as well as track and trace capabilities, the tesa® SecuritySeal product range, which encompasses tamper-evident adhesive tapes and labels, and customer-specific printing, packing, and converting of safety and security labels.