- arvato Company implements IT solution for securPharm
- Pilot project with 20 pharmaceutical companies successfully launched
24 percent of counterfeit products seized at EU borders are medications. A new EU directive was adopted in June 2011 to increase protection against counterfeit medications in order to shield the EU market from counterfeit medications. Medications that may have been falsified must therefore be furnished with a security feature that can be used to check the authenticity of the medication at any time along the entire supply chain from when it leaves the production facility right through until it is dispensed to the end user. Detailed technical specifications of the directive are expected from 2014. Until this time, test operations will demonstrate how the technical aspect of this process can be implemented and gradually prepared for nationwide introduction.
750 million packages of prescription medications are dispensed every year in Germany alone. The legal supply chain from the manufacturer to the wholesaler to the pharmacy is now considered very secure. securPharm developed a special coding system for Germany based on Data Matrix codes in order to continue to guarantee a high level of security in view of the increasing level of counterfeiting around the globe. As a result, the product and serial number is displayed on the packaging of the medication. This code can be used to verify authenticity at every point along the legal supply chain. According to the end-to-end approach, verification must be carried out in a pharmacy before the medication is dispensed. The securPharm system therefore complies with the EU directive.
As part of the securPharm initiative, arvato Systems assumed responsibility for planning and implementing the IT solution required to track medication. This involved setting up an IT platform that allows all pharmaceutical companies to store and manage all package data with valid serial numbers. This platform is then used to test individual packages. In doing so, the IT experts can fall back on the expertise of their colleagues at arvato Healthcare.
Each package is checked against this database as part of the delivery process in the pharmacy, providing securPharm with a high level of protection against counterfeit products and compliance with data protection requirements for the end user. This requires a system that has the ability to process large volumes of data with the highest demands on security and availability. arvato Systems relies on leading technologies that have already been implemented in projects with similar requirements, such as those for the insurance industry. The nationwide rollout and possibility of offering the solution in other European countries open up a number of strategic opportunities for arvato Systems.
The pilot project launched in January 2013. More than 280 pharmacies and 24 pharmaceutical companies are now involved, with around four million medication packages already labeled. Over 35,000 successful verifications demonstrate the robust nature of the system, which boasts availability of almost 100 percent.
“arvato Systems completed the project on schedule within just four months and delivered top-quality results in the process,” says Dr. Reinhard Hoferichter, Spokesman of the Executive Board of securPharm e.V. “We are very satisfied with our decision to opt for arvato Systems as systems integrator and are already looking forward to further expanding the system as part of the test phase.”
