QinetiQ awarded £1.6m Aegate secure hosting contract

Drug authentication system to benefit from decades of frontline security expertise

A new drug authentication system, set up by Aegate to improve patient safety and provide pharmaceutical companies with a means of protecting their brands, will be supported by QinetiQ following the award of a £1.6 million three year secure hosting contract. QinetiQ's facilities and expertise will allow Aegate to keep sensitive information, generated as part of the authentication process, secure and confidential.

Aegate's authentication service protects industry, pharmacists and patients from out-of-date, discontinued, recalled, counterfeit or stolen medicines. This groundbreaking and award winning service has been fully tested in pilots in the UK and the USA and will be launched in Europe next month.

QinetiQ, the global defence and security technology company, has a long and successful history in protecting sensitive information on behalf of UK Government departments and agencies which depend on large scale secure networks and systems. QinetiQ is increasingly providing secure hosting and managed security services to a number of blue chip companies, particularly in the pharmaceutical, financial and telecommunications sectors.

Commenting on the contract award, Richard French, Aegate's Commercial Director, said: "We are delighted to be working with QinetiQ. In selecting service providers, Aegate seeks companies with a similar ethos to our own. QinetiQ's heritage, professionalism and trusted reputation set them apart from other potential providers. Placing the secure hosting contract was an important strategic decision and QinetiQ were selected for their breadth of security experience, both in secure government and in the private sector."

Welcoming the announcement, Duncan Hine, Managing Director of QinetiQ's digital security division, said: "QinetiQ is well positioned to provide secure solutions to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. With our brand protection, anti-counterfeit, and RFID and GPS-based track and trace expertise, alongside our world-class information security capabilities, we are able to assist in the many challenges that the industry faces.

"I am very excited that QinetiQ has been selected to support Aegate's groundbreaking drug authentication system. The security of the system is key to maintaining patient and industry confidence and, ultimately, delivering improved patient safety. I look forward to working alongside Aegate and their customers to ensure the system is a success."

Aegate provides drug manufacturers, pharmacists and their patients with a real time communication system that operates at individual item level. Each pack of medicine is given a unique machine-readable identification number, known as unique serialisation. Using one of a number of technologies, including RFID, 1D or 2D barcodes, items are scanned as they are dispensed.

The system allows the pharmacist to check expiry dates and recall information, and provide updated patient care advice. This ensures pharmacists receive product safety information more rapidly. Currently, communications are achieved by fax or post and can reach pharmacies after drugs have been dispensed. The system also allows the authentication of the origins of medicines, thereby protecting against stolen and fake drugs. Patient safety is an increasingly important issue and counterfeit drug sales are forecast to reach $75billion globally by 2010 if action is not taken.