Global Good’s anti-counterfeiting technology consists of a low-cost, handheld, near-infrared spectrometer (NIRS) device and an accompanying custom Android smartphone software program. Together, this system can be used to differentiate between genuine and falsified medicines using a machine-learning spectral-matching algorithm to compare the spectral signatures of scanned medicines to the signatures of quality-assured medicines contained within the relevant spectral library.

The testing can even be conducted through pharmaceutical packaging, increasing the ease with which medicines can be tested and reducing waste. Current government efforts to combat the counterfeit drug problem in South African countries involve collecting drug samples from different parts of the country which are then sent back to labs in the capital city for testing to determine authenticity. This costly and time-consuming process is also somewhat ineffective: by the time the government can test samples, the medicines in question may have already been distributed. The pilot program could provide a simpler, less costly solution by allowing officials to test medicines on site, getting results in the course of a day, rather than weeks. While the testing devices are currently planned to be distributed and used primarily by public health employees, this user-friendly, inexpensive technology allows for the possibility of a decentralized system that empowers citizens to test the authenticity of their own medicines.

Simultaneously, miniature spectrometers hold the potential to regulate the intellectual property of pharmaceutical companies. There can be possibility of a pharmaceutical company incorporating chemical markers into pills that would indicate their manufacturer. These markers would be detectable in the routine scanning of medicines and could be used to determine where drugs from a manufacturer are being distributed to, and whether they have been illegally redistributed. Use of this device would disincentivize middlemen from tampering with or illegally distributing medicine, enabling pharmaceutical companies to better pursue market access strategies such as differential pricing.

To enhance the social welfare gains of this technology, GAiA is creating a network of countries – the Southern Africa Quality Assurance  Network, or SAQAN – that will utilize the technology to gather and share data on falsified medicines. By enhancing the integrity of regional distribution and supply chains, SAQAN is designed to expand access to affordable, quality-assured medicines on a sustainable, long-term basis.