UK-China Anti-Counterfeit Medicine Strategies: Detection Technologies May Become a Hot Topic

March 27, 2009

On March 2, the UK-China Anti-Counterfeit Medicine Detection Strategies and Technologies Conference was held in Beijing. The Conference aimed to introduce core strategies and technologies to detect counterfeit medicine and analyzed several typical counterfeit medicine cases.

According to Mr. Gerald Heddell, the Director of Inspectorate & Standards Division at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency of the UK (MHRA), anti-counterfeit medicine crack downs in the UK mainly focus on detection at the distribution chain.

Mr. Long Lin, a professor at the University of Leeds, said counterfeit detection technologies will become a hot topic and government should increase investment to carry on research in this field using such financial encouragement.

The threat of counterfeit medicine to safety is increasing. In 2006, counterfeit medicine increased by a large amount. Much of the counterfeit medicine sold in Europe and North America is made in Asia and Africa.