The Union government is in the final stages of approving the process of mandating pharmaceutical companies print barcodes on the packages of 300 drug formulations. The decision has been taken to curb the sale of spurious medicines. The bar codes will be used to provide information such as the manufacturing license and batch number and can be used to check the authenticity of the drug.

Once approved, the amendments to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1945 will come into force in May next year. The new amendment aims to prevent the supply of fake medicines and ensure improvements in public healthcare. An official from the health ministry added that a bar code or QR code will authenticate whether a particular drug is original or not.

According to the draught gazette issued by the Union health ministry, manufacturers of 300 drug formulation products as specified in Schedule H2 of Rule 96 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act will be required to print or affix a barcode or quick response code on their primary packaging or secondary packaging label that stores data or information legible with a software application to facilitate authentication. The stored data or information shall include particulars such as a unique product identification code, the proper and generic names of the drug, the brand name, name, and address of the manufacturer, the batch number, the date of manufacturing, and the expiration and manufacturing license number.

The select 300 drugs that represent around 35% of the total market share are Allegra, Amlokind, Azithral, Betadine, Calpol, Ceftum, Combiflam, Dolo, Dulcoflex, Ecosprin, Gelusil, Jalra, Lantus, Manforce, MeftalSpaz, Shelcal, Human Mixtard, Pan 40, Otrivin, Pantocid, Rantac, Stamlo, T-bactoin, Unwanted kit, Volini spray, and others.