Detecting and preventing the supply of illicit and falsified medicines online

This project will develop and launch data-driven software to detect and prevent the supply of illicit and falsified medical products and PPE on mainstream online marketplaces and ecommerce websites.

This increases detection/prevention rates and enforcement against illegal sellers; enables safer public and private procurement, and protects citizens and communities from harm.

Organised criminal sellers have been quick to target the urgent need for PPE, testing kits and medicines, as well exploiting people's fears by offering illicit, harmful, Covid-19 "miracle" cures.

By focusing on prevention and enforcement, we'll help reduce the $2.2trillion global impact of illicit trade, which deprives governments of tax revenues, harms citizens' health, and pressurises public services. Even before the Covid-19 explosion in illicit supply, fraudulent medicines were recognised by WHO and OECD as one of the most harmful forms of illicit trade.

Vistalworks has previously released an AI-driven system to warn shoppers of threats from illicit online sellers in online marketplaces, and just launched a Chrome browser-extension to warn consumers of Covid-19 related risks as they shop online.