Experts believe the counterfeit trade is worth about $700 billion a year. However, it is the trade in fake medicines, in particular, that has raised the greatest alarm: nearly 2,000 people are estimated to die from fake and sub-standard medicines yearly.

mPedigree through the years has been known to battle drug counterfeiting through creative verification hence they help in reduction of circulation of fake drugs. The President of mPedigree, Bright Simons, through use of mobile and web technologies has helped in securing products against counterfeiting and diversion.

Simons current research and innovation focus at the Harvard Innovation Lab explores the power of new technologies that combine data analytics and thermosensitive polymers for temperature control and accountability management in sensitive health cold chains for vaccines and biotech products.

By powering partnerships, as well as delivering cutting-edge supply chain transformation technologies, such as their multi-award winning Goldkeys app and portal, mPedigree renders service to the world’s leading pharmaceutical and consumable companies with the shared goal of protecting consumers, enriching their lives and transforming their communities through a cleaner, better, supply chain.

Recently, The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) named Simons among the three dynamic and visionary African and global leaders in the field of data management, evidence generation, and technology to their Board of Directors as they approach the mid-point of their 2017-2021 strategic plan.

“Mere imagination and enthusiasm are not enough when breaking new ground, quality, solid, research and data are just as important. That’s why, as practicing innovator, I am so delighted at the opportunity to serve on the Board of the APHRC.” he said. Simons was recently announced among those selected as 2019 Braddock Scholars.

The Braddock Scholars programme features three key components: High-level mentorship, which includes monthly calls for board-level conversations and advice, annual programme gatherings, which feature peer learning and exchange and grant capital, which is used to further their scale goals.

“As you know, the Aspen Institute, through the Braddock Scholarship, brings together innovators working on emerging concepts with potential for massive scale and established global leaders who can help innovators navigate the risks of such breakthrough innovation.

I am very pleased about the Fellowship for precisely this reason,” Simons said. mPedigree works on three continents in partnership with governments, several Fortune 500 companies, and grassroots organisations to spread innovative, including patent-pending, technologies that secure communities from the harmful effects of counterfeiting.

Simons is the George Mallinckrodt Fellow, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and Adrian Cheng Fellow at SICI-Harvard. Simons served for more than a decade as the president of mPedigree: a social enterprise ranked number 34 among world-changing companies by Fortune Magazine in 2016 and among the world’s most creative companies by Fast Company magazine.