Government plans to introduce QR barcodes for vaccines, cancer drugs and antibiotics to stop fakes in the market

QR codes may be made mandatory for vaccines, cancer drugs and antibiotics to prevent the supply of counterfeits.

These QR codes will validate the authenticity of the medicines, as scans will display the name and address of the manufacturer; batch number; date of manufacturing; date of expiry; and manufacturing licence number, among other details.

The plan follows the last year’s move by India’s apex drug regulator for strict implementation of bar codes or QR codes on 300 common medicine brands such as Allegra, Shelcal, Calpol, Dolo, and Meftal Spas.

QR Code to check quality of medicines

“Displaying of QR code on vaccines, cancer drugs and antibiotics was discussed during the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) meeting held last week. The plan is to roll out this initiative in a phased manner. This is an important task to keep a check on quality of drugs in country to ensure patient safety,” said an official aware of the matter.

Moreover, the top drug regulator has ordered strict enforcement of existing regulations including Schedule H1, said the official.

According to the Drugs Rule, 1945, vaccines, cancer drugs and antibiotics drugs fall under schedule H. These are ‘high-end drugs’ that they cannot be sold without a prescription.

Market size

CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics states that the domestic vaccine market size stood at about Rs. 1,730 crore for fiscal year 2024.

As far as cancer drugs are concerned, India is experiencing a surge in demand for affordable drugs largely due to extensive government initiatives to improve access to health. The market size of oncology drugs in India was $1.83bn in 2024 and is expected to reach $2.62bn by 2029, as per Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform.

Industry stakeholders said that the rising demand for vaccines in India is fueled by a growing population, heightened healthcare awareness, and government efforts to boost immunization coverage.

Dr Santy Sajan, Group COO, Paras Health, said, “This forward-thinking move is poised to significantly impact the pharmaceutical industry by enhancing transparency, improving traceability, and ensuring the authenticity of these critical products. For the government, this system will streamline regulatory oversight, reduce counterfeit risks, and ultimately safeguard public health.”

He said that the vaccine market is projected to grow by 5.63% annually from 2024 to 2029, reaching $1.31 billion by 2029. By 2030, the Indian oncology drug market is expected to achieve a value of $10.6 billion. 

Queries sent to the Union health ministry remained unanswered.