Fiber-based packaging provider Graphic Packaging International (Graphic Packaging) has announced it will reveal its latest pack serialization solution at this year’s CPHI Frankfurt event. 

The announcement comes as lawmakers around the world introduce traceability legislation to clamp down on counterfeit healthcare products and improve patient safety. The World Health Organization estimates that one in 10 medical products in developing countries are substandard or falsified. 

A recent EU legislation – the Falsified Medicine Directive - mandates that every prescription medication pack must contain traceable technology, while markets such as China have also introduced their own traceability regulations and standards. 

Graphic Packaging’s solution, developed following its acquisition of AR Packaging in 2021, provides the pharma industry with a versatile packaging serialization solution that can accommodate longer or more complex coding requirements. 

This means it can create everything from EU codes to C128 barcodes for the Chinese market and answer latest drug traceability specifications that were released at the end of June 2022. The company has adapted its production capabilities to ensure it can smoothly transition into this new coding requirement. 

Each code it produces complies with the highest print quality and readability standards with a high-contrast, high-resolution code that ensures optimal scanner legibility. 

Erwin Klünder, head of sales, healthcare at Graphic Packaging, said, “The increasing availability of counterfeit medications and other healthcare products is a real threat to patient safety around the world. An effective serialization solution is more vital now than ever before. 

“Our solution is compatible with a wide range of code specifications – even country-specific formats, such as Italian Bollini labels, and RFID applications. A truly state-of-the-art solution, it gives contract manufacturers and packers the flexibility to include any code format printed either onto the label or directly onto open or pre-glued packaging. All of this is carried out at our facility, easing the pressure on other parts of the supply chain by integrating into existing processes with no additional CapEx investment required.” 

The innovative feature prevents duplicates from occurring, ensuring maximum process reliability and pharma-compliant data handling. Its flexibility provides compliance assurance for any coding laws or regulations around the world, it allows pharma companies to meet ever-evolving market and legislative demands. As such, it is expected to generate significant interest from attendees at the CPHI show. 

The show, which runs from 28 September online and between 1-3 November in-person at Messe Frankfurt in Germany, is one of the biggest international events in the pharmaceutical industry. 

Graphic Packaging will exhibit its serialization solution alongside a range of high-performance pharmaceutical packaging at booth 30B90 in the InnoPack zone. 

Klünder added, “We will demonstrate at CPHI how our unyielding commitment to patient safety drives us to create innovative solutions for the pharma sector. We look forward to sharing more about this highly efficient integrated process that takes our pharma customers from production to serialization. It’s a complete end-to-end pharmaceutical packaging solution that we are excited to discuss at the booth.”