SPECIALITY security printer Eltronis has revealed that holographic labels have boosted two pharmaceutical brands that had experienced a drop in sales due to counterfeiters.
Romanian-nased Pharma companies Biotehnos and Rompharm had reportedly seen ‘significant declines’ in sales of their Alflutop and Rumalon brands in Russia.
Eltronis said that, on investigation, it became apparent that the success of both brands had made them a target for counterfeiters, to the extent that almost half of the branded drugs in the Russian market were showing as fake.
Not only were sales impacted by the replacing of genuine products with those of unknown quality, the high percentage of fakes meant doctors had lost confidence in the brands and stopped prescribing them.
Following discussions with Eltronis, holographic labels were recommended to help protect them from counterfeiters.
Pete Smallwood, business development manager for Eltronis explained, “Not only did our holographic labels counter the decreases seen in sales but, as doctors once again felt confident in prescribing these medicines, patients were able to benefit from receiving the best treatment for their illnesses.”
Eltronis designed and manufactured a security label with a hot-stamp hologram for Alflutop to use on both its ampoules and branded cartons. The design combined high quality overt and covert embossed security features. This, along with Eltronis’ adhesive technology, which allows the label to be applied to both the ampoule and its packaging, created a security solution said to be ‘virtually impossible’ to counterfeit and provided ‘quick and easy’ authentication of genuine Alflutop products.
Rompharm chose a demetallised hologram label for Rumalon across both its ampoule and carton packaging. This, Eltronis explained, integrated the latest holographic security techniques, including a 3D glass relief.
The security holograms provided a means of verification and campaigns were undertaken to ensure doctors were clear on what features to look for and to help identify any fakes.
Eltronis said that the latest data shows that sales volumes have now recovered to previous levels.
Pete Smallwood added, “To date, millions of units of both pharmaceuticals have been protected through using our security labels. We knew how important it was to provide a solution to make counterfeiting much more difficult and enable medical staff to immediately identify genuine medicines. Both brands are now trusted by medics in Russia and patients are once again benefitting from their prescription and use in the treatment of their illnesses.”
