The worldwide counterfeit drug market continues to expand – both in developing and developed countries. From fake anti-malarial drugs in Africa to counterfeits sold over the Internet, these drugs are detrimental in three primary ways:
- Patients don’t receive the correct drug – leading to potential injury or death
- Patients receive contaminated versions of the correct drug which may be toxic
- Pharmaceutical companies lose revenue
SPECTRAL EVOLUTION’s SM-3500 field portable NIR spectrometer can help combat counterfeiting by allowing identification and authentication using spectral matching and principal component analysis. Steps involved in these measurements include:
- Taking sample spectra of authentic drugs to form a known reference
- Checking target drugs against those spectra for authentication
The SM-3500’s portability makes it well-suited for counterfeit screening applications, as it can be used at:
- Manufacturing facilities
- Warehouses
- Hospitals
- Pharmacies
- Field locations for government agencies
The UIV/VIS/NIR/SWIR range of the SM-3500 across a 350-2500nm spectral range, allows it to deliver a number of benefits:
- Minimal or no sample prep
- Rapid analysis – as quickly as a sample per second
- Non-destructive – analysis can be performed with the drug still in its packaging
- Information on structural and chemical characteristics can be measured
- Criminal and sub-standard counterfeits can be identified
- Third party chemometrics analysis programs can be used to provide more quantitative analysis of active ingredient concentrations, and excipients
- Useable with physical/chemical identifiers/markers in genuine drugs
- Easy-to-use, potentially operated by non-scientific personnel