Counterfeit, gray market, and illegally reimported products cause unnecessary health risks for those already at increased risk of disease and contribute to the problem of vaccine access for poor countries. Those unknowingly receiving an illegitimate product are exposed to direct risk of harm, since unsafe or out-of-date components may be present.  Of particular concern is that a vaccinee may not be properly protected against the legitimate vaccine's target disease. Legitimate manufacturers may hesitate to distribute their products for humanitarian purposes in the face of reputational harm that may be caused by illegitimate products.  The latter are more difficult to trace in regions with less developed regulation in supply chains, and because legitimate vials may be refilled with counterfeit product.

Global Vaccines has a sublicense to a novel product authentication technology so that it may integrate anticounterfeiting measures directly into vaccine products.  This project will address early questions of vaccine design, safety and efficacy where such marks are incorporated.

Supporting this project will have far reaching positive impact on the potential for making vaccines accessible in undeveloped and developing economies, where literally billions of people are at risk of diseases that vaccines might prevent.  Beyond vaccines, the project also may have impact on making other medical products more accessible, too.

Help fund Anticounterfeiting & Product Authentication

Important Note:  Clicking the funding link will open a new window to the GuideStar secure contributions web site.  GuideStar is a nonprofit organization that validates and assists other nonprofit organizations in fulfilling their missions. If you wish to contribute to this project, please enter "Anticounterfeiting & Product Authentication" in the Designation section of the GuideStar page.