AstraZeneca introduces security seals on Nexium packs

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca is introducing new technology to safeguard patients and protects its products from threats such as counterfeiting, tampering and illegal diversion. With the launch of its serialized authentication program for the gastrointestinal agent Nexium (esomeprazole), the company says it will become one of the first drugmakers to implement a comprehensive system to serialize and authenticate its pharmaceutical products down to the unit level.

It is introducing security features that make it possible to authenticate each pack, thus allowing the firm to monitor genuine products within the supply chain.

AstraZeneca notes that counterfeiting of medicines is a serious problem with the potential to affect the health of millions of people. The World Health Organization and the US Food and Drug Administration, it says, have estimated that 5%-10% of medicines worldwide are counterfeit (Marketletters passim), with recent reports indicting that up to 30% of drugs in Southeast Asia and China may be fakes.