Medical devices provide life-saving treatment to patients, however, the rise of counterfeit medical devices can cause serious harm and put patient’s at risk. As with fake pharmaceuticals, fake medical devices are not authorised for use by the FDA (US) or MHRA (UK) and can be broken, contaminated or defective. This can cause life-threatening consequences such as inaccurate diagnosis, allergic reactions or impeded treatment.
Medical counterfeiters often thrive off demand, with the Covid-19 pandemic and associated need for medical supplies causing a spike in fake PPE and even fake Covid-19 vaccines. In fact, during a 7-day period in March 2020 Interpol reported that it seized 7,000 unauthorised and counterfeit medical devices, the vast majority of which were surgical masks.
Thriving off the vulnerable is nothing new in the medical counterfeiting industry with counterfeiters regularly targeting developing countries where demand for affordable medical care often outstrips supply. Indeed, the WHO states that around 1 in 10 medical products in developing countries are counterfeit.
With counterfeiters increasingly preying on global as well as individual vulnerabilities with detrimental consequences to health and the economy, preventing face medical devices has never been more important. This is where our anti-counterfeiting solution for medical devices comes in.
Despite advancements in anti-counterfeiting technologies, vulnerabilities still exist, which allow the identities of medical goods to be faked. Research from PwC suggests the problem lies in the macroscopic nature of these identities; RFIDs, holograms, fingerprints and irises can all be copied or cloned. This poses problems for the medical industry as it means that fake devices, such as thermometers, respirators, insulin pens or blood pressure monitors to name but a few, can still enter the market.
At Quantum Base however we have created the world’s first unbreakable anti-counterfeit tag, our Q-ID® solution, which cannot be copied, cloned or faked. These are simply authenticated by a standard smartphone in real-time, allowing billions of global end consumers to be the custodian of medicine authenticity, armed with nothing more than a smartphone. Our Q-ID® solution can be easily integrated within your existing manufacturing processes, providing full protection of your entire supply chain.
According to Market Data Forecast, the global medical devices market size is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.9% from 2023 to 2028. Sadly, this increase in market size is likely to create an even more lucrative market for criminals, and counterfeiting black marketeers. Anti-counterfeit solutions can help to stop this market.
With Q-ID® medical firms can:
Simple to make and yet impossible to copy, Q-ID®s from Quantum Base provide the ultimate in product authentication for medical devices.