Aegate News
Worlds first independent study proves authenticating drugs at the point of dispensing protects customers
Aegate, Brussels, September 17, 2008, Consumers can be protected from receiving counterfeit or substandard pharmaceuticals when their pharmacist is able to authenticate their medicines at the point of dispensing, concludes the world's first audit of a working drug authentication system.
Results prove the Aegate authentication process is 100 per cent reliable1 and an effective method to identify authentic, recalled, expired and suspicious drugs at the point of dispense.
Conducted independently by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, the audit of Aegate's AegatePROTECTTM initiative in Belgium and Greece, which authenticates drugs when being dispensed by the pharmacist in order to filter out counterfeit medicines, is highly significant. Whilst awareness and concern over patient safety in relation to counterfeit pharmaceuticals is on the increase, no consensus has yet been reached either at an industry or governmental level as to how best to secure the pharmaceutical supply chain.2
Dr Guido Hoogewijs, General Manager of The Association of Belgium Pharmacists (APB), said: "We congratulate Aegate for opening up their system for public scrutiny, and for creating the tangible proof that there are methods achievable today to protect patient safety. The findings from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven are a pivotal milestone in the journey to eradicate harmful drugs reaching consumers.
"In their concern to only deliver pharmaceuticals of impeccable quality to their patients, Belgian pharmacists have been financing and operating a Medicines Control Laboratory for the past 50 years in order to filter out substandard products from the market. The Aegate system is allowing us to strengthen our efforts by providing additional tools to filter out packs that are not authentic, that have just been recalled, just expired or are about to expire."
Professor Dr. Steven Simoens, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, confirmed: "Our findings verify that Aegate's patient safety communications service is 100 per cent effective in ensuring that the drugs pharmacists dispense to patients are fit for purpose and safe."
Dimitris Karageorgiou, Secretary General from the Panhellenic Pharmacists Association, Greece, commented: "Patient safety and the best effectiveness of medicines are the drivers for pharmacists, and these results will be welcomed by pharmacists who are looking for effective easy to use tools to protect themselves and their patients against the risk of substandard medicines."
John Chave, Secretary General, Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU), said: "Pharmaceutical safety is of fundamental importance for PGEU members and is a critical issue on the EU health agenda. Initiatives that have the potential to reduce the risk of counterfeits and promote patient safety are welcome."
In Aegate's commitment to patient safety and its fight to
assure the quality and safety of medicines that are dispensed to
patients across Europe, Aegate has commenced roll-out in a new
country every eight months since the technology completed
development in 2006. Currently in operation in Belgium, Greece and
Italy, Aegate has so far this year scanned more than
24.5 million packs of drugs across Europe.
Gary Noon, CEO of Aegate, said: "Belgium was the first country in the world to pioneer our patient safety communications service and this study validates the commitment by pharmacists and their professional membership associations to put patient care at the heart of their business. Industry and Governmental organisations now need to step up and demonstrate a similar level of commitment to patient safety. Aegate is proud to be part of this significant step in Europe towards ensuring patients receive the best quality medicines as prescribed."
Professor Dr. Steven Simoens, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, concluded: "The full impact of authentication processes will only be realised if such systems are applied fully within and across countries. We believe policy makers on a European and global scale should consider these findings and enact the necessary legislation to introduce drug authentication processes based on mass serialisation technology in community pharmacies."
1 99.8% statistical significance using 95% confidence interval
2 Working Together on Mass Serialisation: Whose Responsibility is Ensuring Patient Safety, Frost and Sullivan white paper April 2008
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