Sproxil Receives Prestigious ‘World Business and Development Award’ at United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

Drug Anti-Counterfeit Solution Provider One of 11 Global Companies Honored

Cambridge, MA (June 20, 2012) – Sproxil, a provider of world-class brand protection services in emerging markets, has been named a recipient of this year’s World Business and Development Award (WBDA) for their efforts in improving the lives of people in some of the world’s most disadvantaged communities. With the 2012 awards attracting 115 applicants from 38 countries, Sproxil is one of just eleven companies to be honored with this prestigious award at this year’s United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), 19 June 2012.

Sproxil’s flagship solution, Mobile Product Authentication™ (MPA), allows consumers to verify that products they buy are genuine by using a mobile phone and a simple, free text message. The solution uses a scratch card method, similar to that used for replenishing cellular talk-time. This allows users to reveal a one-time-use code on drugs and text the code to a call center phone number. A response is dispatched from Sproxil’s servers, indicating whether the drug is genuine, potentially fake, or stolen.

Sproxil’s MPA solution is widely used by leading pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson, GreenLife Pharma, Bliss GVS and Biofem Pharmaceuticals.

“It’s an honor to receive the World Business Development Award. Over the years many of the most well-known and well-respected multi-national companies have been award recipients – to be associated with so many global leaders is tremendous,” states Sproxil CEO Dr. Ashifi Gogo. “It not only recognizes the effectiveness of our work to combat drug counterfeiting, but also exemplifies the strength and financial viability of our business model. It will help us gain the international recognition beyond countries we currently operate in, enabling us to have a greater impact in regions most vulnerable to counterfeiting. This helps us solve a problem that impacts the quality of life and productivity of so many people.”

Sproxil provides brand protection in developing countries, where 25% to 50% of medicines are believed to be counterfeit, costing an estimated $75 billion per year.

This is the 10th year anniversary of the biannual WBDAs, run by the International Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF). The WBDA awards are the first global business awards to recognize the crucial role of the private sector, large and small, in implementing the Millennium Development Goals – eight goals adopted by 189 world leaders in 2000 that offer a road map to put people-centered development at the heart of global, national and local agendas designed to help end extreme poverty and its root causes.
The spirit of the Awards lies in the pursuit of innovative and productive core business practices to sustainable development that helps make the societies where they operate better places to live and better places to work.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) follows the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg. It is envisaged as a summit at Heads of State level.

Sproxil
Founded in 2008, Sproxil is a venture-backed social enterprise headquartered in Cambridge, MA, USA, with subsidiaries in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and India. Through the company’s MPA™ solution, brand owners can connect with their customers in a way not previously achieved, by helping to ensure the goods they purchase are not stolen or counterfeit. Sproxil’s solution is compatible with any tangible item, and it is already widely used by leading pharmaceutical companies to curb the multi-billion dollar counterfeit drug industry.

Recognized as innovative and instrumental in the battle against counterfeiting, Sproxil has won the IBM SmartCamp Boston Award and the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Outstanding Commitment Award, as well as received regulatory endorsements from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in Nigeria and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board in Kenya. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States and continues to expand its presence in multiple countries across Asia and Africa. For more information, please visit http://www.sproxil.com.

Sproxil is pleased to announce that Mangesh Hirve has joined the Sproxil Advisory Board.
Mangesh is a Product Director at an Upstream Exploration and Product Information company. Prior to joining Sproxil’s Advisory Board, he was the Sproxil India Country Head. Responsible for launching Sproxil’s global presence in India, Mangesh also was in charge of recruiting the Sales and Service Delivery teams for Sproxil India.

Mangesh brings over 18 years of experience in various roles of increasing responsibility for consulting, program management, and business development, predominately within the financial services industry. His ability to conduct business in English, French, and High German/Swiss German has lent itself to his wide-ranging professional experience.

He has been featured on the Swiss National TV Business and Economy channel and has also been profiled in the leading Swiss Financial Magazine ‘Bilanz.’

The other members of the advisory board are Egbe Osifo-Dawodu, MD, partner at Anadach Group, formerly with the World Bank Institute; Ethan Zuckerman, serial entrepreneur and senior researcher at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University; Mitul Shah, director of engineering at the West Wireless Institute; Paul W. Chang, Global Business Strategy Lead, Emerging Technologies for IBM Software Group; and Chris Israel, partner at American Continental Group.

New Software Enhances Pharmaceutical Companies’ Ability to Analyze and Visualize Drug Counterfeiting Patterns in Emerging Markets

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and ARMONK, N.Y., May 1, 2012 — Sproxil is using IBM technology to help the pharmaceutical industry reduce drug counterfeiting and allow consumers to verify the authenticity of prescriptions in seconds with their mobile phones.

Through its collaboration with IBM, Sproxil is extending manufacturers’ ability to view and analyze real time consumer data to detect and prevent drug counterfeiting in developing countries, where 25 to 50 percent of medicines are believed to be counterfeit,(1) costing the industry $75 billion a year.(2) With the collaboration, Sproxil also uses IBM’s cloud service to provide clients with secure, reliable data access virtually anywhere.

Sproxil’s pharmaceutical clients, such as Merck and Johnson & Johnson, have been able to combat counterfeiting by using the company’s Mobile Product Authentication (MPA) solution to affix a scratch-off label with a unique code to each package of medication. Upon purchase, consumers scratch the label to reveal the code, which they then send via a free text message to a telephone number provided on the package. Within seconds, consumers receive a return text message from Sproxil letting them know if the medication is genuine.

As a part of this process, Sproxil’s MPA solution produces a large, rapidly flowing stream of information concerning pharmaceutical sales and suspected incidences of counterfeiting that pharmaceutical manufacturers have access to through Sproxil’s client portal.

To make it easier for its clients to view and analyze this market data, Sproxil turned to IBM’s ILOG Elixir software, which provides rich visuals such as advanced charts and graphics. Using these and other new capabilities, pharmaceutical manufacturers around the world will be able to better manage and analyze petabytes of transaction data in real time. Now, pharmaceutical companies can more easily identify patterns in counterfeiting and deploy their resources accordingly. Sproxil’s new portal featuring ILOG will be launched during the second quarter of 2012.

“Many of our clients are in locations where high-speed Internet connectivity is unreliable or nonexistent,” said Sproxil Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ashifi Gogo. “Through our work with IBM, we can enable our clients to render charts with high-speed, even in low-bandwidth situations. Through IBM’s cloud service, we are also able offer clients secure and reliable application availability no matter where they are located,” he said.

“Sproxil continues to advance its MPA solution to make it easier for us to successfully prevent consumers from being subjected to counterfeit medications,” said Chokri Ahmadi, business director, Merck Group, West Africa Region. “The new dashboard will allow us to make better use of the data we receive through the client portal, which in turn should help our business and our customers.”

Counterfeit medicines have become a critical issue for developing nations, with an impact measured in lives. For example, of the one million malaria deaths that occur worldwide each year, 200,000 are reportedly the result of counterfeit anti-malarial drugs. Additionally, the WHO indicates that 700,000 Africans die annually from consuming fake anti-malarial or tuberculosis drugs.(3)

“Sproxil and IBM share a commitment to using technology to protect the health and safety of people around the world,” said Paul Chang, supply chain solutions leader, IBM. “With the help of IBM, Sproxil and its clients are making prescription drugs safer for millions of people who live in areas where counterfeiting is rampant.”

Sproxil has been working closely with IBM since 2010, when it was named the winner of IBM SmartCamp Boston and then received honorable mention in IBM’s SmartCamp World Finals. SmartCamp is an entrepreneurial contest that introduces start-up companies to venture capitalists, academia, government and industry leaders who can help them grow their businesses. After Sproxil’s strong performances in the SmartCamps, the company received an investment round of funding earlier this year from the Acumen Fund. Sproxil is also a member of IBM’s Global Entrepreneur initiative, which assists start ups with product development and speeds their time-to-market.

Using IBM SmartCloud, Sproxil is benefiting from the cost savings and scalability associated with a cloud environment while preserving the ability to take advantage of the security, existing applications, reliability, management and support services more typical of a private cloud.

IBM has deep expertise in the pharmaceutical industry and works with most of the world’s pharmaceutical and life sciences companies in support of their discovery and development processes and providing business analytics to help deliver more personalized treatments.

For more information on IBM’s offerings for companies in the healthcare and life sciences industries, visit our website.

To combat counterfeiting in the regions where it is most widespread, pharmaceutical manufacturers around the world – including several of the top 10 as well as small firms – are teaming with Sproxil to offer consumers a simple and quick way of making sure their medication is authentic.

About Sproxil, Inc.

Sproxil is a venture-backed, social enterprise that provides world-class brand protection services in emerging markets. Through the company’s Mobile Product Authentication(TM) (MPA) solution, brand owners can connect with their customers in a way not previously achieved, by helping to ensure the goods they purchase are not stolen or counterfeit. Sproxil’s patent-pending product verification service allows individuals to text message a single-use item-specific code found on products using MPA technology, and receive a rapid response confirming the product’s genuineness or alerting the consumer to report incidents of suspicious activity to the brand owner. Sproxil’s solution is compatible with any tangible item, and it is already widely used by leading pharmaceutical companies to curb the multi-billion dollar counterfeit drug industry. Recognized as innovative and instrumental in the battle against counterfeiting, Sproxil has won the IBM SmartCamp Boston Award and the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Outstanding Commitment Award, as well as received regulatory endorsements from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in Nigeria and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board in Kenya. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States and continues to expand its presence in multiple countries across Asia and Africa. For more information, please visit http://www.sproxil.com .

1. World Health Organization, WHO Drug Information, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2006.

2. Centers for Medicine in the Public Interest, 21st Century Healthcare Terrorism: The Perils of International Drug Counterfeiting. September 20, 2005.

3. Global Edge Business Review Vol. 5, No. 6, 2011. “The Health and Economic Effects of Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals in Africa,” Jeremy M. Wilson and Roy Fenoff.

Contact:

Nancy Kaplan, IBM
914-766-1849
Mobile: 914-714-2299
nkaplan@us.ibm.com

Jeff Loucks, Sproxil
781-571-9330
jeff@sproxil.com

In a recent article, Mr. Omar Issa, CEO of Investment Climate Facility for Africa states that member states of the East African Community last year lost $500 million in taxes as a result of trade in counterfeits.
Fake products penetrated into the local markets are not uncommon to local manufacturers, who experience the negative side effects of their top selling brands losing profit to their fake, substandard counterparts. These manufacturers blame poor oversight at ports of entry. One port in particular, Mombasa seaport, has been used by smugglers as a conduit for distributing counterfeited products from Asian markets into the neighbouring landlocked states such as Uganda, Rwanda and the DR Congo.

“Presidents of the EAC member states should accord the fight against counterfeit the first priority if we are to win the war against fake goods” said Mr Issa.

Read the full story here.

Via the FDA:
“FDA lab tests have confirmed that a counterfeit version of Roche’s Altuzan 400mg/16ml (bevacizumab),an injectable cancer medication, found in the U.S. contains no active ingredient. Even if the identified drugs were not counterfeit, Altuzan is not approved by FDA for use in the United States (it is an approved drug in Turkey).”

For more information, read the entire article here: Altuzan (bevacizumab): Counterfeit Product – Contains no Active Ingredient

The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), established in 2005 by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, is an effort to bring together a community of global leaders who seek to forge solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI then formed CGI University (CGI U) in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses across the globe.
In 2009, Sproxil won the CGI U Outstanding Commitment Award for our efforts to curb counterfeit medicine casualties in Africa. In 2010, we announced our Commitment to Action at the CGI U 2010 annual meeting – “Preventing the Diversion of Medical and Food Donations.”

Since winning the Outstanding Commitment Award, Sproxil has participated in every CGI U annual meeting. This year was no different.

CGI U’s 2012 meeting took place this weekend (Friday, March 30th – Sunday, April 1st), in Washington D.C. CEO of Sproxil Dr. Ashifi Gogo sat at the Saturday morning Plenary session on “The Wisdom of Failure: Building a Culture of Creative Problem Solving,” alongside Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter), Robin Chase (Founder, CEO of Buzzcar), and Cheryl Dorsey (President, Echoing Green).

The session, along with the rest of the exciting weekend activities, was met with such great enthusiasm from participants who traveled from across the globe to attend the event.

CGI U ended this year with a day long service project. In partnership with Rebuilding Together and the USO, attendees and volunteers were assigned to one of two partner organization projects: participants either engaged in a wide variety of home repair activities with Rebuilding Together, or created care packages for military Units with the USO.

We are very blessed to have the opportunity to participate in such a positive and inspiring event and we look forward to many more to come.

(Pictured: CEO of Sproxil Dr. Ashifi Gogo with former U.S. President Bill Clinton)

For more photographs of the event, go here

Learn about the latest impacts that counterfeit drugs have made upon Americans at the Partnership for Safe Medicine’s Congressional Briefing entitled “Moving Beyond the Avastin Incident: The Continued Impact of Counterfeit Drugs in the United States” on March 15, 2012, NOON, Capitol Visitor Center, Room HVC-201.
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to healthcare professionals and patients that a counterfeit version of the cancer drug Avastin may have been purchased and used by some medical practices in the United States. Analysis showed that the fake cancer drug did not contain any of Avastin’s active ingredient and instead contained substances ranging from starch and salt to solvent chemicals like acetone, which is used in paint thinner.

While this newest incident seems outrageous, there have been a number of investigations and prosecutions in the past year of counterfeit medicine distributors who have distributed counterfeit medicines for everything from heart disease medication to diabetes medication.

Moderator Joel White, on behalf of the Partnership for Safe Medicines will present “The Continued Impact of Counterfeit Drugs & the Partnership for Safe Medicine’s Call to Action.”
Connie T. Jung, R. Ph., Ph.D. of the U.S. Food and Drug Administrator’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and Shay Reid, from the Pharmaceutical Distribution Security Alliance will speak on recent developments in counterfeit drugs within the United States.

Lieutenant Commander Jung will present “What Government Needs to Best to Protect the U.S. Supply Chain.”

Mr. Reid will present “Safeguarding U.S. Citizens from Counterfeit Drugs.” PDSA recently floated a proposal for the Pharmaceutical Traceability Enhancement Code (RxTEC) Act.
The panel discussion will start at noon at the Capitol Visitor Center and lunch will be served at 1 p.m.

Please visit their website to register for this FREE luncheon briefing.

For more information, please contact Tara Goodin at 202-591-4041 or tara@safemedicines.org.