Category: Pharmaceutical science

As concerns over counterfeit weight-loss jabs and other fake medication grows, researchers in the University of Brighton have created a new device designed to make drug verification faster, more reliable and affordable – with the potential to safeguard people across the globe. 

The FakeMedSensor – a hand-held electrochemical sensor device – has been created by researchers in the School of Applied Sciences to verify the authenticity of medicines quickly, accurately and affordably. Designed for use across the supply chain, it offers a fast, portable solution for healthcare workers, manufacturers, and even patients. 

As high-demand weight-loss and diabetes drugs, like Ozempic, surge in popularity, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has reported the seizure of 869 counterfeit pens in the UK already. Combined with increasingly complex global supply chains, this highlights the urgent need for medicine authentication tools – a challenge researchers at Brighton are now tackling head-on.