Drug counterfeiting is one of the challenges faced by pharmaceutical firms, distributors, healthcare facilities, and patients. The counterfeit drugs can have packaging and branding which look exactly like authentic drugs; however, they have misleading information on them. With the growing sophistication of counterfeiters, traditional approaches to packaging security may be insufficient for proper protection of pharmaceuticals.
QR codes are widely used nowadays as a tool of product authentication. The main purpose of using them is to give customers and supply chain partners the opportunity to find out product information and verify its manufacturing. But once counterfeiters copy the QR code from a genuine product and use it on counterfeit products' packaging, the process of basic verification becomes useless.
That is why the process of authenticating goods should be not limited by labelling but also involves uniqueness of product identification, verification, and complete tracing of supply chains. It is essential for companies to implement proper measures for protection against counterfeiting to identify suspicious products.
Understanding the Risk of Copied QR Codes in Pharmaceutical Packaging
QR codes are commonly used in disseminating product information using smartphones and other digital devices. As far as the pharmaceutical industry is concerned, such codes may contain information regarding names of products, batch codes, production date, expiration date, and other information about manufacturers of these products.
Nevertheless, the presence of a QR code on a package does not mean that a particular medicine is genuine because, if the QR code contains a web page address or any other information that can be reproduced, counterfeiters will simply reproduce it on imitation packaging.
For instance, a counterfeiter can take a picture of a QR code from the package of an authentic medicine and use the same code for imitation packages. When scanned, the reproduced code will direct a person to the official web page.
Thus, the main drawback is that the code can reproduce information while failing to identify the specific product. It means that the pharmaceutical brands need special authentication technologies for identification of products.
Read also: How QR Codes & Smart Labels Are Transforming Product Authenticity in 2026
The Increasing Significance of QR Code Authentication in India
The pharmaceutical industry in India caters to its own domestic market as well as the markets around the world. The importance of safeguarding pharmaceutical products is thus paramount for safety, reputation, and supply chain management purposes.
Identification and traceability have been expanded under the Indian government by introducing QR codes for certain drug formulations. Amendments have been made by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in the month of June 2026, which will include additional drug categories such as vaccines, antimicrobials, anti-cancer drugs, and specific narcotic and psychotropic drugs. These implementation dates will be varied for different categories; however, the implementation dates will be from July 2027 to July 2028 for certain categories.
These developments highlight the increasing significance of digital identification for pharmaceutical products. It should be noted that although there is a need for digital identification of pharmaceutical products, there are also security features that companies need to recognize beyond regulations for product identification.
How Pharmaceutical Brands Can Strengthen Their Anti-Counterfeiting Strategy
Pharmaceutical organizations should conduct an audit of their existing packaging and authentication systems in order to determine any possible weaknesses and improve the protection of their products.
These are some of the steps pharmaceutical organizations can take:
Unit-level serialization: The application of unique identification tags to each unit of product instead of generic identification tags.
Creation of an authentication process: This is necessary to authenticate the product codes via database checking and any suspicious scan.
Employ physical and digital protections: Ensure there is a combination of authentication technology together with tamper-proof packaging and any other security.
Control of product movement through the supply chain: Ensure provision of reports on product movement and development of protocols for abnormal product movement.
Education of the consumer and pharmacist regarding product authentication, failure of test or suspicious results.
Development of a protocol for reporting suspicious products, investigations, communication of all concerned parties and escalation of issues to appropriate authorities.
All the above measures will help organizations to move from product identification to product protection.
How VCQRU Supports the Move Towards Smarter Product Authentication
VCQRU deals with product authentication, anti-counterfeit technology, and solutions that will assist in creating a brand protection system. The product security services offered by VCQRU will allow companies to find ways to link the physical products to digital verification process.
For the pharmaceutical industry, the ultimate goal is to create a secure product verification process and provide customers with means to verify whether a product is legitimate or counterfeit. Product authentication process can be based on unique product identifier, secure digital verification, traceability needs, and security measures.
In assessing an anti-counterfeit solution for use by business, the company should determine how it will handle duplicated codes, repeated scanning of products, product identification and tracking throughout the supply chain process. It will depend on type of the product, needs and regulations.
With a layered approach to the problem, it is possible for the company to increase the capabilities of identifying potential counterfeit risks.
Conclusion
The use of copied QR codes and imitation packaging clearly highlights the problems that arise when the product security is relied solely on printing on labels.
While QR codes present significant opportunities for the identification of the product and information exchange, it all depends on the way it was created and protected.
For pharmaceutical manufacturers, it is important not only to start scanning, but also create an integrated approach including unique identification, secure authentication, traceability, tampering resistance, and customer education.
Having implemented product authentication and being devoted to the quality and transparency, enterprises will be able to increase the ability to respond to counterfeiting threats, maintain the reputation of their brands and provide a safer pharmaceutical supply chain.
Protect your pharma brand using smart authentication. Learn more about the product authentication and anti-counterfeiting from VCQRU.
