Advanco expands into APAC with Singapore office

Advanco has opened an office in Singapore to tap into what it says is increasing demand for serialisation services in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

The company said the office has been established as “governments across the globe increasingly mandate pharmaceutical manufacturers to incorporate stringent serialization solutions in an ongoing battle against the distribution of fake medicines.”

Advanco’s APAC business will be led by Herbie Leung, named as chief executive of the new division, supported by business operations director Violet Chua. Advanco’s products will be resold across the APAC region exclusively by SGV, which is owned by Leung and has been established across the region for many years.

APAC has emerged as a hotspot for growth in the pharma serialisation market, driven by government traceability mandates in countries including China, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.

China mandates the use of a proprietary 20-character Drug Electronic Administration Code (DEA Code/eCode), while South Korea has required designated drugs and prescription drugs to have serial numbers in GS1-128 code.

Meanwhile, by 2025, all prescription drugs in Indonesia must be serialized and equipped with a GS1-compliant 2D datamatrix code for authentication. And in Malaysia, all prescription medicines must fully meet traceability requirements similar to Turkiye’s ITS system by the end of 2027, with over-the-counter (OTC) products due to come into line a year later.

“Serialization and automation services are expected to experience a surge in demand over the coming years, largely because of the global adoption of complex pharmaceutical regulations to combat the grave threat of counterfeit medicines,” said Alf Goebel, Advanco’s chief executive.

“The opening of the APAC office will complement Advanco’s existing operations across the US and EMEA and play a significant role in meeting the regulatory demands demanded by the pharma and life sciences sectors, both globally and across the APAC region itself,” he added.

Advanco also has offices in Brussels, Cologne, Istanbul, London, San Francisco, Princeton and Sofia.

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