Are people addressing the Falsified Medicines Directive?

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A recent poll of pharmaceutical sector companies gives an indication of industry progress towards meeting the requirements of the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD).

The poll was taken at a webinar organised by Essentra Packaging, titled: “Meeting the Packaging Needs of the EU Falsified Medicines Directive & Beyond.”
Participants were taken through some of the key challenges facing companies looking to meet the demands of the FMD, in addition to the technologies on offer to address them.
Three polls were taken during the webinar to measure the level of engagement with the issue, its challenges and possible solutions.
In response to the question asking how many attendees’ companies had taken steps towards meeting the serialisation requirements of the FMD, only 50% said they were already engaged with this. Also when asked if they had undertaken activity to meet the tamper evidence requirements of the FMD, just 58% replied positively.
Simon Wildash, Head of Marketing at Essentra Packaging, said: “Whilst we were delighted to hear how many of our webinar attendees were actively addressing the requirements of the FMD and looking for packaging products to help achieve this, our polls showed there is still a way to go for many.”
Polling also highlighted that the preferred products to achieve tamper evidence included closure labels, glued cartons and perforations as the top solutions being considered or implemented.
Wildash commented: “At Essentra, we have a range of cost-effective tamper evident and authentication options which can deliver secure solutions for the healthcare market.
“As our survey shows packaging really does offer a way to overcome regulatory challenges, ranging from gluing cartons and incorporating labels to a more integrated view of security options including elements such as holography, overt, covert and forensic technologies as well as security design and print.”