The headline on the wire, "HP printer to stamp out counterfeiting", didn't seem so new or different, as preventing currency counterfeiting has long been an interest of our industry, especially with the highly capable AIO's and MFP's of the last decade or so.
But the source of the article made me pay attention -- Outsourcing-pharma.com. The subject here, in the article by Nick Taylor, is HP (NYSE HPQ) and their Specialty Printing Systems, with a printing solution for pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Branding, dosage and security information can be printed onto individual pills and the machine is capable of printing at a rate of 500 feet per minute.
Alternatively, there is the capacity to print at a slower speed but much higher quality. In this mode precise, uniform printing of logos, barcodes and variable data can be added to pills and capsules.
Also covered is another packaging-printing firm, DataLase. (See above photo.)
According to the article, the pill printing inhibits counterfeiting by not only labeling the drugs, but also by establishing an additional barrier (the printing solution itself) to would-be counterfeit drug manufacturers.
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