Product Category: Topical Gel
Regions: China, South East Asia, UK, US
The Challenge
Alliance Pharmaceuticals, a global leader in over-the-counter health products, was facing a serious and fast-growing threat: up to 50% items discovered in China were compromised by highly convincing counterfeit products. The quality of fake packaging had advanced to the point that even experienced inspectors struggled to distinguish real from fake. Alliance’s traditional enforcement strategy, which relied on manual inspections and lab-based workflows, was too slow, reactive, and unable to scale with the growing risk.
To turn the tide, Alliance set a clear goal: reduce counterfeits, accelerate enforcement actions, and build a scalable, field-first strategy that would work without changing packaging or disrupting supply chains. Alliance chose TrueMed’s digital authentication platform powered by AI and built for instant verification in the field.
Before TrueMed
- 50% counterfeit rate in China
- Slow, manual inspections
- Delayed enforcement
- Hard to scale
After TrueMed
- 90%+ counterfeit reduction
- Instant mobile verification
- Real-time enforcement
- Scalable across teams
“Instead of waiting for bad actors to erode trust in our products, we now go after them with precision. TrueMed’s technology gives us a new kind of visibility and the speed to act before patients are put at risk.”
— Head of Global Brand Protection
The Solution
TrueMed provided a mobile field scanning solution that enabled inspectors, third party auditors, and in-store agents to verify product authenticity in seconds. This digital forensic approach removed the bottlenecks of manual inspection and gave Alliance a real-time tool to act on emerging threats.
How It Worked
TrueMed’s mobile app was deployed across inspection partners in China, with rapid onboarding for test purchase agents. Scans were immediately analyzed and flagged using AI-based detection without sending samples back to a lab. As results validated the effectiveness of the technology, the deployment expanded to other key markets including Southeast Asia, the UK, and the US.
Key milestones:
- Stage 1: Go live launched in China
- Stage 2: First enforcement actions based on field data
- Stage 3 Expansion into APAC regions
- Stage 4: Global rollout across major product lines
Instant Validation
Size & Shape
Colors CMYK/RGB
Typography
Gradients
Graphics
Print Quality
Impact and Results
- Counterfeit ratio in China significantly reduced
- Faster enforcement: Real-time data enabled local law enforcement to identify and act on illicit sellers
- Scalability: Dozens of inspectors could now scan independently; previously this required specialized senior staff
- No packaging changes required: The system worked with products already in circulation, even those with multiyear shelf life