Anti-Counterfeiting for Pharmaceuticals in the Pandemic Times

Counterfeiting becoming a common practice in developed countries

The act of counterfeiting is to fraudulently imitate something genuine or bona fide with the intent to pass it off as the original during the sale. This has now become a common practice not only in third world countries but also in the developed nations that understand the concept of Intellectual Property. With the advent of the online shopping era, it has become relatively easier to fool the customer into believing that he is getting a luxury product at a marginal price, and why wouldn’t someone want to buy from brands like Gucci, Burberry and LV at 95% off.

Counterfeit Vaccines on the Rise 

A huge threat affecting the world population at large has just come into the picture as officials in China just seized more than 3000 saline-filled vials and arrested more than 80 members of a group trying to pass these vials off as Covid-19 vaccinations. Though there is no clear count of how many people it has been administered to, officials believe that these counterfeit vaccines had made their way to Japan and South Africa most probably via Hong Kong.

Stricter norms to deal with counterfeit vaccines need of the hour

We do acknowledge that the counterfeiting of drugs and pharmaceutical products will be a crime against humanity. Since there is so much at stake, it has to be taken seriously and stricter norms must be put in place. It is also imperative to note that a whole lot of counterfeits enter through the bordering nations and this makes it vital to educate the custom authorities in India. Even though there are laws in a place like the Customs Act, 1962 and the Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007. These laws allow the holder of any IP rights to register themselves with the Customs authorities for the seizure of counterfeit goods. As soon as there is an import of any branded goods, the original right holder will be notified and if the goods that are imported are proved to be counterfeits, the goods will thereby be seized and destroyed in the presence of the rights holder. It is interesting to note that the rights holders that are not registered with the Customs, may report to the Customs authorities about any information regarding counterfeits being imported.

The issue of counterfeiting is a sensitive one that needs to be addressed with utmost importance. It is imperative that the police department and the enforcement agencies are made aware of such activities. Since counterfeiting of medicines or vaccines has the potential of affecting the health of the consumers, this cannot be taken lightly. The rule of law should ensure that there are stricter measures and anyone who indulges in counterfeiting or facilitating the process must be punished with severe financial blows which must act as a deterrent.

Need to devise methods to make reverse engineering of vaccines and Pharmaceuticals impossible

Another way to curb counterfeiting, especially for the pharmaceutical industry, is to take the used bottles of medicines or vaccines back, so that a counterfeiter may not be able to reverse engineer or copy the aesthetics of the bottle and manufacture a counterfeit. There are a lot of countries that practice this kind of arrangement with their customers where the customers get a percentage of what they paid in return for submitted the empty bottle or vessel back with the seller. Likewise, there can be an arrangement that can be promoted by the pharmaceutical companies in India where the empty bottles can be asked to be returned to the original manufacturer. This shall not only help the pharmaceutical companies in protecting their brand from counterfeiting or illicit use but will also ensure an environmentally friendly system that will come into place. If this practice is adopted, it will also give a sense of trust towards the brand and the company. A customer’s trust and belief in the brand will foster and this will also ensure the retention of customers for a particular brand.