EM Microelectronic and ForgeStop Win CPHI Award for Secure RFID Pharma Packaging
Dual-frequency RAIN RFID and NFC technology combines pharmaceutical traceability, cryptographic product authentication and digital patient information in a single smart label.
Milan, Italy, October 2026 – Swiss semiconductor manufacturer EM Microelectronic and ForgeStop, a technology company specializing in NFC- and RFID-based product authentication, secure connected packaging and supply-chain traceability, have won the CPHI Pharma Award 2026 in the category Drug Delivery, Devices and Packaging Innovation.
The award was presented on October 6 in Milan during CPHI, one of the pharmaceutical industry's leading international events, bringing together manufacturers, suppliers and technology providers from across the global pharmaceutical supply chain.
The award recognizes a solution combining UHF RAIN RFID and NFC authentication in a single semiconductor chip. EM Microelectronic supplies the dual-frequency technology, while ForgeStop provides the smart-label integration, production-line encoding and cloud-based authentication platform.
Together, the technologies enable pharmaceutical manufacturers to track individual medicine packs throughout distribution and allow pharmacists and patients to verify authenticity using an NFC-enabled smartphone.
One Chip for RFID Tracking and NFC Authentication
At the centre of the solution is EM Microelectronic's em|echo-V dual-frequency RFID chip, which supports two identification methods within the same package.
UHF RAIN RFID enables automated identification of individual products during packaging, warehousing and distribution. Multiple tagged items can be detected by RFID readers without direct visual contact, supporting inventory management and pharmaceutical track-and-trace applications.
NFC provides the consumer-facing interface. Pharmacists, healthcare professionals and patients can tap the packaging with a compatible smartphone to initiate product authentication and access verified digital information without installing a dedicated application.
The chip supports configurable cryptographic authentication, adding a security layer beyond conventional printed identifiers. Unlike QR codes or barcodes, which can be reproduced photographically, the NFC authentication process generates dynamic verification data that is checked against the product's registered digital identity.
Integration into Existing Pharmaceutical Packaging Lines
ForgeStop combines the semiconductor technology with its InfoTap smart-label solution and connected products platform.
The RFID chip is embedded within a conventional pharmaceutical label or tamper-evident seal, adding less than 0.3 mm to the packaging thickness. Existing labeling equipment can apply the tags without requiring a complete production-line redesign.
ForgeStop's BatchMaker system encodes and activates each chip during production, linking it to a serialized digital identity. Subsequent RFID reads and NFC authentication events can be recorded by the platform, providing information on individual products, their movements and verification status.
The system also supports tamper-evidence functions, helping identify packaging that may have been opened or manipulated.
Commercial Deployment and Digital Product Information
The technology has already reached commercial pharmaceutical production. At Mexican pharmaceutical company IFA Celtics, ForgeStop's connected packaging platform is being deployed across prescription and over-the-counter medicines, with approximately one to 1.5 million authenticated packs per month reported in the CPHI project submission.
Beyond authentication and logistics, the NFC interface can connect patients to electronic product information (ePI), including current medicine instructions and market-specific language versions.
This functionality is particularly relevant as European pharmaceutical authorities advance the introduction of electronic product information.
For pharmaceutical manufacturers, the combined approach connects industrial RFID traceability with smartphone-based authentication and digital patient communication through one identification medium. The CPHI award highlights the potential of dual-frequency semiconductor technology to support these functions without requiring separate RFID and NFC labels.