History

In 2004, our founder, David Bear, M.D., observed that a growing number of his psychiatric patients were addicted to pain killers. Many of them were on state Medicaid support, and could purchase up to 60 powerful pain killer tablets for $1.50, which had a street value of several thousand dollars. Further research confirmed that drug diversion and counterfeiting had become dangerous menaces to society. After a fruitless search to identify companies with technologies for combating these problems, Dr. Bear formed COVECTRA to develop practical solutions for pharmaceutical counterfeit protection and diversion control.

In 2006, COVECTRA received its first contract to develop a system for authenticating an opioid unit dose using unique codes inscribed on the tablet. In 2007, the company commenced its development of a proprietary unit dose imaging technology called iSTARx for Image Storage Tracking and Recognition. Later that year, Steve Wood joined our staff as President/CEO, bringing expertise in packaging and printing technologies. In 2008, COVECTRA was awarded a contract for the development of an end-to-end security system, beginning with the unit dose, and extending to the pallet, with each package level serialized and traceable.

While our roots are in the pharmaceutical industry, COVECTRA technologies and services benefit any company that encounters the threat of diversion or counterfeiting. Offering anti-counterfeiting and diversion control solutions from the point of manufacture through to the consumer, COVECTRA is positioned to help industries including: pharmaceutical, tobacco, beverage, cosmetic, software, and others.

COVECTRA exists to ensure product security, consumer protection and brand integrity.