Counterfeit drugs - decisive and global action is needed, study urges

In a market where counterfeit drug sales are estimated to reach $75.0 billion by 2010 according to the World Health Organization , it is clear that faking of medicines is on the increase. However, there is too much talk and not enough decisive action being taken in the industry to harness this problem, which is affecting national economies, damaging pharmaceutical brands and, above all, threatening patient safety, concludes a new study by Frost & Sullivan (http://www.healthcare.frost.com).

The study, commissioned by patient safety communications company Aegate and titled Working Together on Mass Serialization: Whose Responsibility is Ensuring Patient Safety?, reviews the steps that have been taken to try and address this burgeoning issue both from a national legislative level and through the use of new technologies. The analysis concludes that as counterfeit medicines impact patients' health and have such a negative effect on all involved in the supply chain, a collective push towards a solution with tangible benefits for all parties is urgently needed.

"It is Frost & Sullivan's opinion that, with the current growth of the counterfeit drug market, the industry needs to stop talking about finding a solution and start working together to put one in place," says Frost & Sullivan vice president - financial and business services, Europe and Africa Andrew Calvert. "To do this successfully, there needs to be an acceptance right across the supply chain of shared liability," he added.