Pharma chooses Microsoft in drug counterfeit fight
pharmafile | July 10, 2013 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | Microsoft, azure, windows
Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform has been selected to power the new EU-wide European Medicines Verification System (EMVS) that will be developed and operated by Solidsoft, a Microsoft Gold Partner.
The EMVS is the solution put forward by the European Stakeholder Model Partners – a body that represents the majority of the European pharma industry to combat the growing problem of counterfeit medicines sold across the continent.
The new system will see all 10 billion medicines dispensed throughout the 27 countries of the European Union contain a unique, encrypted product identifier. This will be scanned at the point of dispensation and then verified for authenticity in the cloud with Microsoft Windows Azure.
This is all part of the European pharma industry’s response to the 2011 EU Falsified Medicines Directive, which aims to address the “alarming increase of medicinal products detected in the Union which are falsified in relation to their identity, history or source”.
Richard Bergström, director general of EFPIA, said: “We look forward to the start of the implementation of the European Medicines Verification System. Patients need to be able to trust in the medicines they take and this is a timely and important step towards finding a solution to the urgent problem of counterfeiting in the EU. Microsoft and Solidsoft will enable us to deliver a system that is robust, secure and cost effective.”
Mark Smith, director for health and life sciences at Microsoft UK, said: “Better care and better outcomes for more people – it is what we are all striving for in the health industry.
“Through the Windows Azure platform, Microsoft enables innovative companies regardless of size to take on large and critical projects with the vast computing resources of Microsoft’s data centres around the world at their disposal in a reliable and secure fashion. Microsoft is delighted to be working with Solidsoft on a project of such importance to the health of the 500 million citizens of the European Union.”
Related Content
Microsoft and UCB collaborate to treat immunological and neurological diseases
UCB and Microsoft have agreed a new multi-year collaboration to discover new medicines by combining …
Top Ten most popular articles on Pharmafile.com this week
It’s the last Friday of February, and it’s time for another run-down of the most …
Shire, Microsoft and EURORDIS form rare disease alliance
Rare disease specialist pharma firm Shire, rare disease patient alliance EURORDIS and tech giant Microsoft …
