According to Reuters counterfeit drugs have become a $200-billion-a-year global industry,(1) which despite ongoing crackdowns by the authorities is a growing problem. To assist pharmaceutical companies fight back Denny Bros, the UK’s leading producer of multi-page pharmaceutical labels, is to target the sector during the second quarter of 2016 with a range of anti-counterfeiting solutions.

Denny Bros, who pioneered multipage labelling and has the registered trademark Fix-a-Form®, has developed an extensive range of anti-counterfeit labelling solutions which it hopes will help safeguard pharmaceutical producers and the general public from harm.

One of the firm’s latest developments is a security 2D matrix which consists of a series of black and white cells or modules arranged in either a square or rectangular pattern. This enables information to be encoded using either text or numeric data. As an additional feature Denny Bros also offers a microtext solution, enabling words to be printed below or at one point size which is almost unnoticeable to the human eye without the help of extra magnification.

Other key solutions offered by award winning Denny Bros include holograms that are difficult to replicate, print “hickies” that a counterfeiter may not identify to reproduce and the printing of product labels using hermochromatic ink, which when exposed to heat can make print features disappear or appear differently.

The enterprising Suffolk-based producer also offers the option of a unique serial number that can be incorporated into its labels to identify and authenticate individual products. As a further bonus Denny Bros has now augmented this with an optional coin reactive cover, which requires a coin to be rubbed over the surface to expose the covered numbers beneath.

Some of the additional security solutions Denny Bros provide include fluorescent UV reactive inks and void protection material, which on peeling back the label covering displays text such as ‘void’ or ‘tamper warning’ to show a product has been interfered with. Other options include silver foil coating to make an item more difficult to counterfeit.

Complimentary security solutions supplied by the firm include RFID tags which can be covered under labels or inserted into the packaging and acoustic tags to deter shoplifters.

Denny Bros is already a leading supplier to the pharmaceutical sector of multipage labelling solutions allowing detailed clinical information to be incorporated in a label booklet up to 120 pages in size. Key features of its labels include easy-open and reseal and even a four ply wet peel solution. Information to be held on the labels can include medication instructions in multiple languages, safety messages, dosage details and legal information. Labelling applications include containers, vials and even syringes, where despite the often small available surface a large amount of text, graphs and pictograms needs incorporating.

Accredited to PS 9000:2011 and ISO standards, the different security options build on Denny Bros’ many years of experience in the pharmaceutical labelling sector and should widen even further its products appeal.

Denny Bros’ senior marketing executive, Stephie Castling, says: “Over the last few years we have developed a number of anti-counterfeit and anti-tamper solutions which have subsequently been further extended. During the next few months we’ll be promoting these to the pharmaceutical sector in a bid to reduce the risk from counterfeit drugs and product tampering.”

Fix-a-Form®, is sold direct by the firm through the UK and beyond through a network of 20 licensed partners who can all adapt its label to suit virtually any product or container, making it suitable for a multitude of different clinical and pharmaceutical applications.