Generics Producers: Criminal Sanctions Can Stop Counterfeit Drugs

The European Generic medicines Association today issued a call for criminal sanctions rather than technology to stem the flow of counterfeit drugs. This will stop counterfeiters, not bar-codes, said Antonyia Parvanova, a member of the European Parliament, according to an EGA press release. He was speaking at an EGA event on 10 November.

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations late last month unveiled its plan to combat counterfeits via the use of a “data matrix,” acting like a bar-code, to individually number and track every pack of medicine (IPW, IP Burble, 20 October 2009).

EGA at that time said the measure would be costly for small companies. Criminal sanctions as well as “due diligence” and the reporting of suspicious activity are preferable solutions, said the EGA press release. These solutions can be aided by risk assessments for specific medicines more likely to be the targets of counterfeit, the release said – adding that well-known brands are more likely targets than generics.