European medicines supply chain stakeholders this week restated their commitment to delivering a system for protecting against counterfeit products.

In a joint statement released on the occasion of World Anti-Counterfeiting Day, the following representative organisations confirmed their continued partnership in developing a model for tracking and tracing medicines:
• the European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies (EAEPC);
• the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA);
• the European Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (GIRP)
• the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) (representing community pharmacists)

Monika Derecque-Pois, Director General of GIRP, described the grouping of organisations as “a ground-breaking alliance organisations” and announced her organisation’s formal endorsement of the European Stakeholder Model (ESM) Memorandum of Understanding.
The organisations launched a public tender exercise for development of a medicines traceability system in April of this year and will announce further progress and next steps at a  public information-session on 27 June 2012 at the Renaissance Hotel in Brussels in the margins of the EFPIA Annual Meeting. The session is expected to last for approximately one hour, starting at 14:15.
Interested individuals can register their attendance here.

The Falsified Medicines Directive 2011 requires a pan-European system for tracking and tracing medicines to be put in place in all EU states. The partnership of ESM organisations is developing a model for such a system. The European Directorate for Quality Medicines (EDQM) is also developing a system, called e-Tact. More information here.