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Holograms employed in the anti-counterfeiting battle

Ian Lancaster of the International Hologram Manufacturers’ Assn. describes how holograms overcome pharmaceutical counterfeiting problems.

Product differentiation. Holographic foil helps Colgate Palmolive create shelf impact for its products and instant recognition t
Product differentiation. Holographic foil helps Colgate Palmolive create shelf impact for its products and instant recognition t

Sophisticated replication techniques have made counterfeiting and fraud a serious threat to the pharmaceutical industry. The World Health Organization estimates that annual earnings from the global sales of counterfeit and substandard medicines exceed $32 billion.

Drugs and packaging are both counterfeited, putting lives at risk. Diversion of legitimate product outside authorized distribution channels is another problem. In response to this problem, many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies have directed their efforts at authenticating their packaging as part of the process of protecting their products.

As a result, diffractive optically variable devices—referred to generically as holograms—have become a widely used overt authentication feature on pharmaceutical products around the world.

Since Glaxo first used a tamper-evident hologram to seal packs of Zantac in 1989, holograms have been employed by the industry. Many major drug companies use holograms on at least some of their medicines in selected markets, using them in the form of labels, seals, hot-stamped patches, and blister foils, designed to be easily recognized yet difficult to copy accurately.

The evolving role of the hologram has also been accompanied by the increased use of the security device in combination with other authentication technologies.

Holographic foils can be used to differentiate product at the point-of-sale—something Colgate Palmolive recognized when it launched its new ‘Total and Whitening’ branded toothpaste, aimed at the premium end of the market.

Colgate Palmolive needed its high-quality brand to stand out from the market, opting to use holographic foil to reinforce the values of the ‘Total and Whitening’ brand while simultaneously ensuring the packaging was visually attractive enough on shelf to catch the eye of consumers. Shown in the photo here, the distinguishing visual effects holography brings were identified as a powerful tool in building a strong and powerful message and instant recognition of premium value. API Holographic Ltd.’s HoloFOIL™ was specified to offer a flexible design solution that could also withstand fast production speeds.

Holograms often provide overt first-line authentication while covert features such as scrambled images, micro text, UV-sensitive or other specialist inks provide second-line authentication for trained examiners equipped with appropriate decoding equipment.

AUTHENTICATION PLUS TRACEABILITY

Another trend has seen the serialization of holograms as part o+f systems that combine authentication with traceability. Track-and-trace systems link on-pack security devices with database management and field-tracking services. In this way, the ability to know where a pharmaceuticals consignment has been, where it is now, and where it is heading has become a fundamental part of many drugs companies’ production and logistical operations.

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