Micro-Tracers, Inc. today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued US Patent 10,175,199 on January 8, 2019. The patent covers the design and manufacturing of SECURtracers as edible, covert tracers used to mark various products, such as solid dosage form drugs or other packaging products or labels. The tracer particle will serve as an authentication tag to determine whether or not any given article in the stream of commerce is authentic (i.e., contains the tracer particle) or counterfeit (i.e., does not contain the tracer particle).

Counterfeit products pose a major threat in many industries, especially the pharmaceutical industry. The challenges of controlling counterfeit drugs have increased as markets become more global with more complex supply chains. These complex supply chains create entry points through which contaminated, adulterated and counterfeit products can infiltrate the drug supply.

“This novel patented proprietary technology offers an edible, covert, on-the-spot and effective authentication solution for fighting fakes within the pharmaceutical supply chain” said David Eisenberg, President of Micro-Tracers, Inc. “We are confident that Micro-Tracers’ expanding intellectual property estate, including this newly issued patent for SECURtracers, will provide our products with long-term market exclusivity. This is particularly important as industry awareness and acceptance of our SECURtracers and in general PCID technology for use as a pharmaceutical anti-counterfeit solution continues to grow.”

SECURtracers will allow verification of a drug product ‘on-the-spot’ at the dose level, even when separated from its original packaging. SECURtracers will address the problem of: counterfeiting, product recall and return monitoring, product diversion, and quality control. SECURtracers will help reduce liabilities, prevent loss of revenue, and provide multi-layered brand protection.

With the issuance of this new patent, Micro-Tracers intends to seek potential commercialization partners for SECURtracers in the United States.