Interpol and twenty-nine pharmaceutical companies announced that they are jointly establishing a new program to help combat counterfeit drugs. Among others, the initiative was supported by Amgen, Inc., AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly & Co., GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co, Novartis, Pfizer Inc., Roche Group and Sanofi SA.
The companies have agreed to jointly provide €4.5 million (roughly $5.9 million) to create the Interpol Pharmaceutical Crime Program which will supplement Interpol’s Medical Product Counterfeiting and Pharmaceutical Crime Unit with the aim to combat counterfeit drug rings at their points of origin. The funds will be used by Interpol to train local law enforcement officials on investigation procedures, evidence handling, and cross-border collaboration and will assist Interpol and each of its 190 member countries to more effectively tackle the problem of medical product counterfeiting. Counterfeit drugs, which sometimes comprise a majority of the pharmaceutical market share in developing countries, are now commonplace among more than fifty-percent of illegitimate online drug retailers. The World Health Organization estimates that counterfeit drug sales total an estimated $430 billion a year.
Source: Karanovic & Nikolic Law Office, IP highlights March 2013
