EDQM Launches Anti-Counterfeiting Database

The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare, a secretariat tasked with coordinating activities between national authorities and the European Medicines Agency, has launched its Know-X database that archives reports of counterfeit and falsified medical products found in Council of Europe member states.

The database provides details — gathered from the Network of Official Medicines Control Laboratories (OMCLs), health authorities, regulatory agencies, surveillance authorities, customs and police — on closed cases of counterfeit and/or falsified medical products, EDQM says.

EDQM hopes the database will expand officials’ knowledge and awareness of counterfeiting, help in collaborations and exchange of information between health agencies and law enforcement and spur sharing of information on testing of illegal medicines within the OMCLs.

Access will be granted to officials working for competent health or law enforcement in a Council of Europe member state or in a state that participates in the MEDICRIME Convention or a member of the European OMCL Network that does not belong to the core testing group.

The FDA has also concerned itself with anti-counterfeiting efforts in recent years, and is in the process of implementing a new nationwide track-and-trace law. The FDA Safety and Innovation Act of 2012 also increased fines for counterfeiting from $2 million to $5 million and raised the maximum jail sentence from 10 years to 20 years. — Lena Freund

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