Inauguration of the Sanofi-Aventis Central Anti-Counterfeit Laboratory in Tours
PARIS, September 4, 2008 – The sanofi-aventis Central Anti-Counterfeit Laboratory was officially inaugurated today at the Tours pharmaceutical plant (in the Department of Indre-et-Loire, France) by Hervé Novelli, Minister of State to the Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment with responsibility for Business, Trades, Small- and Medium-Sized Entreprises, Tourism and Services, and Jean-François Dehecq, Chairman of sanofi-aventis.
The Central Anti-Counterfeit Laboratory is an integral part of the sanofi-aventis Group's initiative against counterfeiting.
The Laboratory, with its team of experts and state-of-the-art equipment, has a three-fold remit: - to conduct direct examinations of packaging items and leaflets as well as definitive chemical tests on suspect samples of commonly counterfeited products - to develop test methods and distribute them globally in order to allow any industrial plant in the world to inspect and test, with the same criteria, the suspect products corresponding to those manufactured by sanofi-aventis - to centralise "Identity Cards" for the counterfeit drugs found, in a single, central data base, to make it possible to compare different types of counterfeit.
The Central Anti-Counterfeit Laboratory is a key tool at the disposal of the regulatory agencies, the police and the customs as well, of course, as the courts in France and in any other country involved.
Aware of the threat to public health posed by counterfeit drugs, the sanofi-aventis Group is making a solid commitment to combating this curse by gathering as much information and evidence as possible to help the authorities to fight efficiently against this dangerous, criminal enterprise.
To this end, substantial human and material resources are being committed to the project and all the group's divisions are being mobilised. And after just over two years, the results are already concrete: in 2007, more than 2.5 million doses of counterfeited sanofi-aventis products were discovered throughout the world.
Mobilisation of the group has spectacularly increased the rate of identification of suspected counterfeit products: - discoveries that could be categorised as "accidental": identified by locally based institutions or sales representatives, reported by patients or pharmacovigilance, discovered by the police or customs discoveries associated with routine market monitoring operations - by the anonymous purchasing of certain drugs in pharmacies in a given country or town, or on the Internet - discoveries associated with information from other pharmaceutical companies with samples provided for rapid testing and comparison.
Confronted with the sophisticated arsenal at the disposal of drug counterfeiters, Jean-François Dehecq advocates a zero-tolerance policy.
"We have for too long a time under-estimated the problem of drug counterfeiting—what used to be a cottage industry is today a fully fledged industrial process" declared Jean-François Dehecq.
"Given the urgency of the situation, we have to be intransigent, notably on three specific issues: enhancing the efficacy of international police enquiries; updating the penal code which is currently insufficiently dissuasive; and regulating drug distribution networks, especially those which can be exploited to promote counterfeit drugs" he concluded.
“Europe will only be able to provide a fully comparable advantage within a fair and legal framework.
Counterfeiting, whose growth is a cause for concern worldwide, is one of the most aggressive forms of unfair and illegal business practice”, declared Hervé Novelli.
*** About drug counterfeiting The counterfeiting of drugs is a major public health problem and no country or therapeutic class is spared. In 2006, counterfeit drugs accounted for more than 10% of the global pharmaceutical market, i.e. about 45 billion euros1. In some countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, up to 30% of the drugs on the market may be counterfeit2. Developed countries are also affected with counterfeit products having invaded the regular distribution networks. The statistics point to a sharp rise in the rate of confiscation of counterfeit drugs by European customs services with over four million boxes of counterfeit drugs impounded at borders in 2007, an increase of 51% over 20063— and the rate of confiscation rose by 384% between 2005 and 20064.
About counterfeit drugs A counterfeit product may be: - a product containing the right active substance or substances in the correct proportions; - a product containing the right active substance or substances but at the wrong concentrations; - a product in which no trace of the active substance can be detected; - a product containing impurities or toxic substances.
About the Tours pharmaceutical plant The pharmaceutical plant established at Tours in 1967 is mainly devoted to the production and packaging of solid, oral products—tablets and capsules—including a number of the Group's most important drugs. With an annual production of over 60 million boxes (i.e. 2.5 billion units) in 2007, the plant is a major economic player in the Centre region of France. The plant employs 450 people (in Production, Industrial Development and support services) and covers an area of 65,000 m2.
About sanofi-aventis Sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions to improve the lives of everyone. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).
References: 1. WHO : http://www.who.int/en/ 2. International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT), 2006, “Counterfeit medicines: an update on estimates” 3. 2007 Customs Seizures of Counterfeit Goods. European Commission. May 2008 4. http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/customs/customs_controls/counterfeit_pirac y/statistics/counterf_comm_2006_en.pdf
Pharma Industry News Archive
2008: Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
2007: Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
2006: Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
2005: Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
2004: Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
2003: Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
2002: Jan | Apr | May | Jun | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
