Fighting counterfeiting requires a long-term battle and we need to start somewhere

Globally, incidents of fake, counterfeit pharma products are on the rise and recent cyber attacks on some pharma companies involved in the development of COVID-19 vaccines are raising further alarm. Nakul Pasricha, President, Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) talks about the need for a phygital approach to secure supply chain integrity and facilitate easy identification of genuine COVID-19 vaccines, with Usha Sharma

- Usha Sharma

COVID-19 vaccines are here but there are reports about a surge in the cyber attacks in the pharma sector as well. How can a data breach become a critical, serious event?

Yes, there are concerns related to cybersecurity also. According to a report published in the Wall Street Journal, hackers from North Korea are trying to infiltrate companies in the US, the UK and South Korea working on COVID-19 treatments including the leading COVID-19 vaccine makers. Further, cybercriminals are creating fake websites related to COVID-19 to entice victims and dupe innocent consumers. Trend Micro reported that nearly one million spam messages are linked to COVID-19 since January 2020. There are incidents reported across the globe, criminals making fraud because of supply shortages. In one instance, German health authorities caught an elaborate international scam-paying million for masks that do not exist.

What measures need to be taken by pharma companies involved in developing COVID-19 vaccine to ensure product quality till it reaches the last mile?

Brands should contemplate putting in place a comprehensive anti-counterfeiting system that starts with adopting physical authentication and traceability solutions to eradicate tampering chances and secure supply chain integrity. A contingency plan should also be drawn to alert customers, suppliers, authorities, and the public in the event falsified products are discovered in the supply chain. Globally, companies are deploying measures to ensure product supply chain integrity, safety, and security.

Some solution providers have taken the initiative of providing robust authentication solutions to pharma companies making COVID-19 vaccines. How will they benefit the pharma companies as well as people? Will such solutions add cost to the finished product?