One in ten pharmaceutical products in global circulation is falsified. Those are not projections. That is the present-day reality, documented by the World Health Organization. And it is the exact crisis that ForgeStop CEO Terry Katz and Tom Racette, Sr. Director of RFID Market Development at EM Microelectronic, are bringing to the main stage at Pharma Supply Chain & Security World 2026 in London.

The session — "The $400 Billion Threat: Stopping Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals at Scale" — takes place on March 18 at 11:05 AM at the Copthorne Tara Hotel. It is not a product pitch. It is a reckoning.

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What Attendees Will See: NFC Authentication, Live

The centerpiece of ForgeStop's London appearance is a live demonstration of the InfoTap™ Connected Products platform and it is designed to be visceral, not theoretical.

Attendees will tap a real NFC-enabled pharmaceutical label with their own smartphone. No app required. In seconds, they will see cryptographic verification, geo-tagged and timestamped, confirming product authenticity in real time.

This is the experience ForgeStop's cloud-based InfoTap platform delivers at scale. Every scan is logged. Every anomaly a duplicate scan in an unauthorized geography, an out-of-sequence verification is flagged automatically. The packaging does not just carry information. It actively protects the supply chain.

As a Gold Sponsor we reinforce our position and committed to long-term growth and innovation to pharmaceutical industry's security infrastructure and ecosystem.

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Beyond Serialization: The Case for Connected Packaging

The regulatory environment is tightening — and moving toward a future that print-based serialization was never designed to serve. The EU's Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) established mandatory serialization and tamper verification across Europe. DSCSA has done the same across the United States. These frameworks have created enormous compliance infrastructure. They have not eliminated counterfeit pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, the EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) mandate — coming into force in 2027 — signals where regulators are heading: toward dynamic, item-level product data that travels with a product throughout its entire lifecycle. Connected packaging is not a future aspiration. For forward-thinking manufacturers, it is a compliance preparation strategy today. NFC smart labels are the mechanism that bridges where serialization left off and where the DPP is going. An NFC chip embedded between label layers — using existing label lines, the same applicators, the same production workflows — transforms passive packaging into an active authentication node.

Related Reading: QR Code vs. NFC for Brand Protection: What's Best in 2025? A direct comparison of QR codes and NFC for pharmaceutical authentication — covering scan mechanics, security architecture, and why NFC is increasingly the standard for high-stakes brand protection.

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Beyond the Event

Counterfeit pharmaceutical networks are not static. They replicate holograms, duplicate serial numbers, and re-label diverted product with increasing sophistication. Real-time NFC authentication doesn't just verify once — it builds a continuous intelligence picture across the distribution network, flagging anomalies before product reaches a patient or pharmacist.

Related Reading: Mexico's Counterfeit Pill Crisis: How NFC Smart Labels Are Protecting Patients On-the-ground look at one of the world's most acute counterfeit pharmaceutical challenges — and how real-time NFC protection is making the difference where serialization fell short.

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See You in London

Session: The $400 Billion Threat: Stopping Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals at Scale

‍Speakers: Terry Katz, CEO — ForgeStop | Tom Racette, Sr. Director RFID Market Development — EM Microelectronic

‍Date & Time: Wednesday, March 18, 2026 · 11:05 AM

‍Venue: Copthorne Tara Hotel, London, UK

Bring your phone. Tap the label. See authentication happen in real time.

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Not attending? Request a private demo and experience NFC pharmaceutical authentication firsthand
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Sources:¹ World Health Organization — Substandard and Falsified Medical Products (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/substandard-and-falsified-medical-products)² Pharma Supply Chain & Security World 2026 — Official Agenda (https://corvusglobalevents.com/pharma-supply-chain-security-world/agenda)³ EU Regulation on Digital Product Passports — ESPR Framework

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