Prices and quality matter most for pharmaceutical industry

IN her recent inaugural address to the fifth Asian Pharma Expo-2011, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called upon the pharmaceutical companies to be more vigilant over preventing the marketing of sub-standard medicine. She also asked them to take steps towards reducing the prices of medicines, so that the masses could avail themselves of life-saving drugs and the government is enabled to keep its pledge to provide healthcare facilities to all people. According to the International Policy Network, more than 700,000 people die each year due to counterfeit malaria and tuberculosis drugs. In emerging markets, counterfeiters exploit vulnerabilities in the supply chain to re-label, repackage, counterfeit and dilute a variety of pharmaceutical products. In the developed countries, pharmaceutical manufacturers are fighting the problem head-on. One large pharmaceutical company has found talcumpowder, boric acid, brick dust, highway paint, and even floor wax in counterfeit versions of its medicines. To prevent spurious drugs from threatening patient safety and affecting the bottom line, the company hired former law enforcement officials and customs agents to investigate counterfeit drug manufacturers and distributors worldwide. The company's global security department has been extremely successful at uncovering criminal activity and involving the appropriate authorities to bring the responsible parties to justice. With consumer brand loyalty being integral in a competitive marketplace, pharmaceutical manufacturers need to understand not just the different types of supply-chain threats they face, but also the tools and technologies available to prevent them. Whether the issue is a substandard or counterfeit raw material from a producing country entering the legitimate supply-chain or counterfeit drugs being sold over the internet, these companies must be prepared to protect their brand, product and customers. Technology can help pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and others involved in the supply-chain to differentiate between genuine products and materials, and fake ones. Whether trying to ensure the integrity of a product or enforcing intellectual property rights, there are technologies that can assist. Governments around the world are also utilising new technologies to prevent counterfeit and substandard drugs. Among the developing countries, Nigeria has been one of the pioneers in the fight against counterfeit drugs, recently bringing counterfeit pharmaceutical levels down from 42 per cent to 16 per cent, thanks to an aggressive policy of intercepting shipments and pursuing counterfeiters. Threats to the pharmaceutical supply-chain are not new, nor are they going to disappear anytime soon, but there are steps that companies can take to mitigate risks and ensure patient safety. New technology has moved the battle against counterfeit and substandard drugs from the laboratory into the field, enabling pharmaceutical companies, government entities and patients to take control of drug quality. In Bangladesh, the prime minister's appeal is not well enough, sincere action by the government is required. Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often. What a piece of work is a man, how noble he is in reason, how infinite he is in faculties, how much admirable he is in form and expression, and how like an angel he is in action, how like a god he is in apprehension. It is extremely important to suit the action to the word and, the word to the action. A real decision is measured by the fact that the government has taken a new action. If there is no action, government has not truly decided. The writer can be reached at e-mail: gopalsengupta@aol.com