UPM Raflatac fights against counterfeit drugs with new pharma security label materials

UPM Raflatac is expanding its range of labeling solutions to support pharmaceutical companies in improving patient safety through secure and tamper-evident packaging. These solutions offer an easy route to achieving full compliance with the EU Falsified Medicines Directive on packaging for prescription drugs and high-risk, over-the-counter medicines.

With tamper-evident labeling patients can be sure that their pharmaceutical products are authentic and have not been tampered with. UPM Raflatac's solutions work with pharmaceutical adhesive RP62EU to offer a range of tamper-verification safety features that lead to visible, irreversible damage or change to the packaging or label when removed while ease of opening the package remains the same: clear labels that tear cardboard packaging, void effect labels that permanently reveal a hidden pattern or text, and fragile seal label products that become irreversibly torn or broken. Additional features are also available, such as holographic effects.

The range includes luminescent tamper-evident adhesives to help verify whether labels are in place and correctly positioned. Our existing luminescent RP62 EUL works with prevailing sensor systems, but the newly released Red Luminescent solution with RP62 EU works with an innovative new presence verification system which can be retrofitted to existing machines to reliably verify that labels are present with 100% accuracy, regardless of packaging color or design. The Red Luminescent label material is clear under normal lighting conditions but glows red when illuminated by the sensor's UV light.

"At UPM Raflatac we focus our material development on the needs of the industry, anticipating legislative change and pre-empting market demand," says Markku Pietarinen, Segment Manager for Pharma, EMEIA, UPM Raflatac. "Our newly expanded range of pharma security labeling materials offers simple implementation with a combination of effective tamper-verification solutions that blend seamlessly with existing packaging designs. Together we are labeling a smarter future."