Wellcome Trust report highlights counterfeit concerns

UK-based medical charity the Wellcome Trust has published a report on counterfeit medicines that draws on the discussions at a briefing meeting held in London last month.

The Opinion Former's Conference on Counterfeit Medicines, organised in collaboration with the UK-based American Pharmaceutical Group, brought together academia, government bodies, enforcement agencies, pharmaceutical industry representatives and non-governmental organisations.

"The principal aims of the conference were to draw out consensus on the key issues and, most importantly, to identify ways in which the problem could be tackled," say Wellcome Trust chair Sir William Castell and APG head Dr. David Brickwood in the report's preface.

Progress may have been slow in the past because of a lack of awareness of the problem, as well as the confusion between counterfeiting and intellectual property infringement and the complex nature of the trade, the report notes.

The document suggests that the trade in counterfeit medicine can be tackled in a number of ways, including boosting medicines testing capacity in less developed countries, tightening up regulatory and legal frameworks as well as international enforcement, and engaging with politicians and the public. Openness and communication will be critical, it notes.

"A great deal of secrecy has surrounded counterfeit medicines. Neither pharmacies or companies want to be associated with defective drugs [but] without full sharing of information... it will be difficult to coordinate and prioritise action." 

Technologies will have a role in tracing products through the supply chain and detecting counterfeits, but as many of these are complex to deploy and expensive, there is "an urgent need for cheap, reliable and portable devices to support enforcement in the field."

A copy of the report, as well as video interviews with speakers and copies of presentations delivered at the London event are available on the Wellcome Trust website here.