Tropes

ec.europa.eu 2015 0000547.txt

#SFERA#New technology combats fake medicines and saves lives Fotolia 2012while human lives and health are the mostimportant concern counterfeiting is a problemthat plagues other industries too. High on thislist are perfume manufacturers with largesums of money at stake in sales of high-classluxury branded items. Meanwhile the proceeds of counterfeitinggo to feed organised crime possibly eventerrorism and result in huge costs in the formof lost tax revenues. The problem is simple: many medicines andalmost all perfumes come in glass containerswhich are hard to protect against thecounterfeiters. Ink-based markings are easilyerased. The tags needed for Radio frequency identification (RFID) can be removed or altered. Laser marking might be the answerbut existing techniques produce microscopiccracks in the glass. It was to find a solution to this problem that the EU-funded SFERA project was set upusing funding from a programme designed tostimulate innovation by fostering cooperationbetween small and medium sized businessesaround Europe. The result of the two-year 1. 5 millionproject was a unique new laser engravingtechnique known as'Naginels'.'The highresolution system allows tamper-proof barcodes to be engraved on the inside of bottlesat the time of packaging. In combination withspecialised reading machines'Naginels'makes it possible to detect even the mostsophisticated counterfeits. Critical to the success of the project was theneed to produce a system which was not justa reliable safeguard against counterfeitingbut also one which was practical to deploy. One of the key achievements of SFERAINVOLVING 9 SMES from Belgium France Italyand the UK was to produce a system capableof applying the engravings at a rate to matchthe pharmaceutical industry's demandingproduction speeds a dizzying 600 items aminute. Combined with a high-speed reader the newtechnology has already been recognisedwithin the industry as the perfect answer tothe scourge of pharmaceutical counterfeiting. While its speed is crucial to industries likepharmaceuticals another of the features ofthe different requirements of the perfumeindustry. In a sector where aesthetics arecrucial the laser engraving is almost invisible. More than that it can even be used to produceattractive light diffraction effects taht actuallyenhance the product a real win-win situation. Back with the pharmaceuticals industry thenew system guards against another majorrisk: the danger of bottles getting mixed upduring production. On high-speed productionlines the right bottles need to be filled with the right medicines. Obliviously mistakes can be catastrophic. The SFERA system means that bottles can be identified instantly and rerouted where necessary. With the recognition it has already gainedit is hoped that the technology developedthrough SFERA will rapidly become a globalstandard within the pharmaceutical industry? -safeguarding human health and finallyputting an end to a crime which in thepharmaceutical industry alone is estimatedby the World Health Organisation to cost theworld more than 12 billion a year e

< Back - Next >