Current challenges in the detection and analysis of falsified medicines

Trends in counterfeit drugs and pharmaceuticals before and during COVID-19 pandemic

“…Main reasons for the prevalence of counterfeit products throughout the world are (a) high demand for less expensive drugs, (b) low availability of medical products, (c) social tolerance for counterfeit products (d) globalization and consumer access to the internet (e-commerce), (e) complex and fragile supply chains, (f) limited technical capacity to monitor products throughout the supply chain, (g) complex import-export mechanisms (h) the use of free and special economic and trade zones (i) lack of law enforcement (g) weak national regulatory policies on the manufacturing and marketing of medications, (k) lack of adequate financial and political commitments [3] , [4] , [5] , [11] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] . For these reasons the penetration of counterfeit products is generally higher in developing countries with West Africa and South America being reported as the areas mostly affected [11] , [20] , [21] .…”

“…Various methods to detect counterfeits exist, with strengths and weaknesses in applicability, reliability, and cost [15] . The first step is visual inspection of packaging to provide information on suspected products, followed by scanning barcodes and seals that easily detect unlabeled or wrongly labeled medicines [14] . More sophisticated methods also exist like the analysis of primary packaging by spectroscopic techniques such as IR and Raman in combination with optimized chemometric models [14] .…”

“…The first step is visual inspection of packaging to provide information on suspected products, followed by scanning barcodes and seals that easily detect unlabeled or wrongly labeled medicines [14] . More sophisticated methods also exist like the analysis of primary packaging by spectroscopic techniques such as IR and Raman in combination with optimized chemometric models [14] . Subsequent (chemical) analysis is often required with methods, based on LC- or GC-MS, to confirm falsification of suspected samples [14] .…”

Emerging Antimicrobial Drug Resistance in Africa and Latin America: Search for Reasons

“… 15 , 16 However, not all methods are suitable for routine use in LMICs: the limited applicability of modern state-of-the-art instrumentation and the growing complexity of pharmacopoeial methods poses significant challenges to local testing laboratories and eventually obstructs embracive testing activities. 17 , 18 …”

Contribution to the Detection of Poor Quality Sildenafil Drugs in Burkina Faso Using High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography

“…The analytical methods to be used are classified into two main groups: destructive methods and nondestructive methods; the latter can be performed outside the laboratory. Among the destructive methods are nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), atomic absorption spectrophotometry, gas chromatography, and liquid chromatography coupled with diode array or mass spectrometer detector and thin-layer chromatography [ 2 , 6 ]. Nondestructive methods include X-ray diffraction, mid- and near-infrared spectrophotometry, and Raman spectrophotometry.…”