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Incidents of medicine counterfeiting increasingly often make the headlines – particularly when customs authorities achieve a major coup. In September 2017, German customs confiscated 950 parcels with 68,000 falsified pills and vials at only three parcel centers within a single week. An anonymized survey revealed that one in eight physicians has at one time or another held a counterfeit in his/her hand, and even six in 500 pharmacists have. One in seven counterfeits comes from a pharmacy in another EU country.

Mid-October, some 500 tons of fake medicines were confiscated in international raids. They included ineffective potency-enhancing drugs, pain killers and dietary supplements as well as counterfeit cancer drugs. According to Interpol, 116 countries were involved in the operation and 850 suspects arrested. This again shows the importance of tamper-proof packaging. An EU Directive-compliant closure seal provides an effective solution.

Treatment by self-medication with autoinjectors: a growing trend. For patients, the ease and safety of handling are particularly important. For pharmaceutical manufacturers, the protection of patients against fake medicines and security of the supply chain are crucial. The EU FMD, besides serialization, requires tamper protection of secondary packaging, however without considering first-opening indication for injection devices. That is exactly what the NFC-Label for autoinjectors is offering.