Wibu-Systems’ CodeMeter Licensing and Protection Technology Safeguards BIC Medical’s Med2Morrow Business

Wibu-Systems, a software licensing and protection technology global leader, announced that BIC Medical, a Dutch medical company, has integrated Wibu-Systems’ CodeMeter solution into its unique Med2Morrow custom prescription dispensing system for use in the heavily regulated French and German pharmaceutical markets. The Med2Morrow system enables the precise, safe, and reliable provisioning and packaging of custom prescriptions. CodeMeter protects the sophisticated system software from tampering, which ensures patient safety, and provides a reliable licensing mechanism to support the company’s business model.

Many patients rely on custom prescriptions, a tedious dispensing process for galenic pharmacists, who combine specific amounts of different medications. Licensed pharmacists have little margin for error as mistakes can have serious consequences on patient health. At the same time, pharmacists in retail outlets and healthcare institutions have been under growing pressures brought on by increasing workloads and limited resources, time, and staffing. This combination created an urgent need for a technology solution that can streamline the process of dispensing custom prescriptions.

BIC Medical addressed the issue with its innovative Med2Morrow custom prescription dispensing system, which couples intricate hardware and sophisticated software to sort and dispense medicine for custom prescriptions. The system has more than 500 motors that are programmed to pick, sort, and prepare the right cocktail of pills, which are then filled into bags or blister trays. Once filled, the containers are heat sealed to prevent loss or tampering, and then delivered to the dispensing pharmacist. The system greatly streamlines the overall process, providing ample time savings and allowing pharmacists to attend to other tasks.

At the core of the system is software to control the machine functions and track the dispensed medicine. Protecting their IP invested in the software and properly monetizing the system within its distribution network became of paramount importance. BIC Medical chose Wibu-Systems’ CodeMeter technology to protect its IP and safeguard its billing processes.

CodeMeter was integrated into the process to monitor whether the on-board application is working and whether the dispensing workflows are correctly activated. The appropriate system licenses are contained in CodeMeter dongles (CmDongles). Med2Morrow system’s customers can only use the dispensing machines with the right licenses associated with their CmDongle. The system tracks usage in detail and takes stock of the quantities of medicine dispensed to not only secure the system from illicit use or tampering, but also to streamline the billing and maintenance process. Customers pay-for-time of operation of the machine and/or the number of pills processed.

Furthermore, the Med2Morrow system operates offline. Because licenses are contained in CmDongles, BIC Medical service technicians can easily update software and firmware as needed on site. Machine licenses are combined with maintenance contracts so there is no need for the pharmacists using the system to worry about servicing their machines.

Rutger Visscher, Director at BIC Medical, said: “On the advice of a colleague company in the sector, we opted for the security and licensing technology of Wibu-Systems. The CodeMeter system determines whether the application software is working and whether the workflow in the drug dispensing machine is activated, for how long, and for what quantity. And now we are assured that we will be paid for our efforts.”

Marcel Hartgerink, General Manager of Wibu-Systems NV, added: “The Med2Morrow application of BIC Medical is an excellent example that shows the power of CodeMeter: On the one hand, integrity protection creates a reliable drug registry for patients, which can be vital in life-threatening scenarios, and on the other hand, licensing, i.e. implementation of business models, brings benefits for BIC Medical and its users.”