The volume of the worldwide counterfeit medicines market amounts to about 200 billion U.S. dollars. Every year, it grows by about 20 percent—twice as fast as the legal medicines market. Counterfeits and tampering pose potential health risks to patients. The consequences for the pharmaceutical industry are major economic losses and reputational damage. Pharmaceutical packaging can be protected by means of specialty Void-Labels from Schreiner MediPharm. They make tampering attempts and first opening clearly and irreversibly visible.
In February 2019, the European Union responded to the growing counterfeit medicines market by issuing the EU Falsified Medicines Directive for pharmaceutical packaging. The global ISO 21976 standard also states how security features can be used on pharmaceutical packaging and how tampering attempts can be verified. In addition, it specifies requirements for protecting the authenticity of pharmaceutical packaging. The tailored Void-Labels from Schreiner MediPharm satisfy all these requirements.
The utilization of MediPharm’s Void-Labels makes it clearly more difficult for counterfeiters to reuse original packaging. Peeling off a label with a void effect makes a previously covert message visible. Following extensive tests, Schreiner MediPharm adapts the closure seals specifically to the relevant packaging, material, substrate, and application. The seals can be custom-designed, offering film material choices in various colors as well as white, and transparent versions. In addition, the void effects can be used for glass and plastic containers. Various void effects can be realized depending on the individual use case:
No Transfer
Peeling off the label leaves no residues on the pharmaceutical packaging. The void effect becomes visible only in the label after it has been opened for the first time. Reclosure of the label with the visible void effect is possible.
Semi Transfer
Peeling off the label leaves partial residues on the pharmaceutical packaging. After first opening, the void effect is visible both in the label and on the packaging. Reclosure of the label with the visible void effect is possible.
Full Transfer
Peeling off the Void-Label leaves a complete coating layer on the packaging. Consequently, the void effect is visible on the pharmaceutical packaging and in the label after first opening but reclosure of the label is not possible.
In addition, a convenient tab may be integrated for particularly easy handling by the final user. Due to the addition of overt or covert authentication features, the Void-Labels can also provide proof of authenticity. Schreiner MediPharm ensures optimal and reliable performance of the seal that is adapted precisely to the respective packaging and specific threat scenario.