Bilcare unveils pharma clients for authentication tech

India's Bilcare has moved its nanotechnology-based authentication technology into the commercial arena in pharma, signing deals with four domestic and multinational drugmakers.

Merck Sharp & Dohme, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Mankind Pharma and Panacea Biotec are among the companies which have agreed to deploy Bilcare's nonClonableID technology in their pharmaceutical products, according to the company.

nonClonableID relies on the application of micro- and nanoparticulate metallic materials - with unique magnetic and optical features - that can be added to a product's primary and/or secondary packaging as well as the label.

The unique, random pattern of the nanoparticles can be read at any stage in the pharmaceutical supply chain to authenticate packaging and detect counterfeits or diverted product using a low-cost, handheld scanner.

Bilcare announced the deals at an event in Delhi which saw a symbolic handover of products embedded with the technology.

The technology has also been implemented by agrochemical firm Indofil and is being currently being tested by the Delhi police force, according to Bilcare managing director Mohan Bhandari.

It has also been used by a US wine producer and the security forces in an Asian country, and Bilcare says it is close to signing a deal with a European consumer product company.

Bilcare notes India is gradually developing an undesirable reputation for producing substandard medicines and is on the watch list of the USA, and UK authorities as well as the World Health Organization for counterfeits.

Part of the problem is India's highly fragmented pharmaceutical industry, with around 20000 registered manufacturing sites and 250 pharma companies, as well as a distribution channel that includes up to 100,000 stockists and over half a million retailers.


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