UK Medicines Control Agency and University of London scientists areworking on near-infrared scanners which they hope will eventually be sufficiently small and cheap to be used in public places to test for counterfeit drugs, reports the Associated Press.
Tony Moffatt, chief scientist at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, said at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' convention in Denver, Colorado, USA, that so far, it has been found that the technology can distinguish between the same drugs produced at different plants in Europe. The scanners are similar to other methods which the industry uses to test for fake drugs, he said, adding that, before the machines could be put in public areas, the assistance of the drug industry would be needed in order to develop a database of what their products should contain.
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