Brief: Talking pen developed for pharma anti-counterfeiting

India's Shreenath Smart Technologies has developed a talking pen concept that it says could help separate counterfeit from genuine medicines.

The company told Pharmabiz that the pen device will react to a motif printed onto the medicine pack or any other printable substrate - in either visible or invisible inks - and play an audio file such as "This is a genuine product."

The file will only play using the specific pen issued to the manufacturer, and anyone looking at the printed code will see only a blank file, it said. The system is compatible with gravure, flexo and offset printing technologies.

Shreenath Smart Technologies focuses on smart cards and readers and secure identification systems, working alongside partners including Zebra Technologies, NBS Technologies and ST Micro Electronics.