How do pharma companies prevent falsified medicines with the verification system

  • Pharma companies (manufactures or parallel distributors) on-board the system through the European repository (Hub). On-boarding the Hub is a prerequisite for the company to be able to upload information about their medicines into the repository and bring serialized packs to the market. You can find more information about on-boarding on EMVO’s website.
  • Pharma companies equip their prescription medicine packs with the safety features required by legislation. The safety features consist of the unique identifier (serial number and product code) and an anti-tamper device on the package. There are some exceptions in the Delegated Regulation regarding the products in scope.

The unique identifier is added to the medicine pack in the form of a 2D matrix. In addition to the unique serial number and product code (GTIN), the 2D matrix must include the batch number and expiry date. 

For example:

Uudistuneen lääkepakkauksen tiedot

Read more about the new medicines packs.

If a pharma company wants to upload data to the Finnish verification system (via the Hub), it must have a valid contract with FiMVO and pay the annual fees.