HP helps mPedigree test its SMS drug verification

mPedigree started testing the feasibility of its text message-based verification system for pharmaceuticals in Ghana last month, as part of an ongoing collaboration with Hewlett-Packard and mobile phone carrier Zain.

Using the system, consumers scratch off a panel on a medicine pack to reveal a 10-digit numerical code, which can be sent via text to a free SMS number. The request is routed to a secure HP server in Ireland and a reply is texted back within a few seconds to indicate whether the number is legitimate.

The overall aim is to find a low-cost solution to the problem of counterfeit medicines in Africa, particularly countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Angola, Burundi and Congo where it is estimated that up to half of all medicines are substandard, according to a report published last year by the International Policy Network (IPN).

The first phase of the collaboration got underway on May 6, according to Bright Simons, mPedigree's chief strategist, and the partners intend to carry out a larger 'beta-launch'  involving more than 125,000 antimalarial product packs in Ghana and Nigeria later this year. Thereafter the aim is to carry out a "full-scale roll-out across multiple countries in Africa," he said.

"There are three broad components of such an integrated mobile cloud-computing platform - messaging and interfacing (connectivity), databases and security (IT) and manufacturing integration (business processes)," he told SecuringPharma.com.

"The May 6 test marked a successful integration of the system's connectivity," continued Simons. An earlier pilot - carried out in 2008 - looked at the willingness of consumers to text in codes but did not involve communication via HP's data centre.

Simons noted that HP has been collaborating on the mPedigree project under the terms of a memorandum of understanding which was signed last year, and this should be firmed up later this month when the agreement is executed. The contract with Zain, one of Africa's largest mobile phone operators, is already in place, he said.

Many of the details of the planned roll-out remain under wraps, and Simons remained tight-lipped about the pharmaceutical companies which may be involved. However, it is believed that GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis and Pfizer are among companies in discussion with mPedigree and its partners about adopting the system.

Simons believes the reason mPedigree is attracting the attention of Big Pharma lies in the robustness of its authentication technology, which can handle printing of coding directly onto packaging without interfering with manufacturing processes.

The details of how the system would work in practice are still being ironed out, although Simons indicated the general principles are a revenue-sharing model that would reflect the different levels of investment and operating costs as well as the intellectual property thrown into the mix by the various partners.

"This is a classic joint venture approach," he said.


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