Zero tolerance for counterfeit medicines: EFPIA on patient safety
06.03.12
This month has seen the publication of an article from EFPIA in the magazine 20/20 Pharma on a collaborative coding project, the European Stakeholder Model (ESM) with the aim of preventing falsified medicines from entering the European supply chain and improve patient safety.
The threat of counterfeit medicines is increasing. With a pharmaceutical counterfeit market in boom – in 2010 estimated to $75 billion by the World Health Organisation (WHO) -, patient safety is at stake.
To this end, EFPIA together with EAEPC (the European Licensed Parallel Distribution Industry), GIRP (Groupement International de la Répartition Pharmaceutique) and PGEU (Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union), the respective European organisations of parallel distributors, wholesalers and pharmacists at EU level, has proactively initiated a project to identify concrete options for establishing a harmonised and cost-effective system for the verification of pharmaceutical products in Europe. This pan- European product verification system is to be run by stakeholder organisations on a non-profit basis.
The system will be interoperable between the various countries and will allow for the reconciliation of products traded between EU member states (known as parallel traded products) through the European central hub. In addition, it will also offer those countries who do not want to set up their own national system the opportunity to join an existing product verification infrastructure.
