2. How do you feel about being named a finalist in the 2010 Tech Awards? “Sproxil is honored to be recognized for our simple, easy to use and comprehensive anti-counterfeiting strategy, which can be used anywhere mobile phones exist,” said AshifiGogo, CEO of Sproxil. “Our solution provides numerous benefits for governments, drug regulators and law enforcers, industry and professionals, foreign donors, foundations and non-profits, telecom operators and consumers, so we envision even broader uses for our Mobile Product Authentication solution in the future.”

3. If you could describe your innovation in one succinct sentence, how would you describe yourself? Our solution using cell phones to provide protection against counterfeiters while also capturing market intelligence in emerging markets.

4. How was your company founded, and what inspired its creation? Sproxil was incorporated in 2009 as a US corporation after significant research into affordable mass serialization and authentication technologies for developing nations, leveraging the explosive growth of cell phones in such regions of the world. We picked our company name without hard coding it to a particular industry, reflecting the fact that our solution works for many industries, not just pharmaceuticals. This strategy has already paid off as we hope to announce a new document security service in East Africa this year, powered by Sproxil’s MPA Technology.

5. What makes your company different from other companies in your market space? There has been some hype in the market about using mobile technology to combat counterfeiting and that has led to some missed expectations. We decided that rather than promote a solution before launching it, we should just focus on delivering the solution and the market would judge our results.

6. What has been your company's greatest accomplishment in the past year? We launched our service in February and we have already received a number of consumer testimonials thanking us for the work we are doing to help them stay safe from the dangers of counterfeit medicines. In our 100-day pilot in West Africa, we coded over 735,000 blister packs – a pilot size six times larger than Europe’s anti-counterfeiting barcoding pilot.

7. What is your greatest asset? The Sproxil team. Dedicated men and women who provide great value to our clients and simple but key tools to society to stay away from fake drugs.