PUFIN-ID Secures DKK 14M Grant

A Grant That Will Strengthen Medical Device Authentication and Patient Safety    

Our Danish client, PUFIN-ID, has secured over DKK 14 million in funding from Innovation Fund Denmark through its Grand Solutions programme to advance secure product authentication for medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The project is developed in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen and Novo Nordisk and aims to reduce the risk of counterfeit products entering the supply chain.

Counterfeit medicine and falsified medical devices remain a serious global threat. When authenticity cannot be verified, patients are exposed to direct harm, while healthcare systems face increased recalls, loss of trust, and weaker traceability.

The project builds on PUFIN-ID’s patented Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) technology, which creates a unique, microscopic physical fingerprint for each unit. Unlike QR codes and barcodes, these marks cannot be copied. They are designed to work with standard scanners and smartphones and can support compliance needs such as the EU Digital Product Passport.

PUFIN-ID’s commercial platform, O-KEY, is built on the same PUF technology and enables secure authentication and traceability through a scalable label-based system.

“In life-critical areas like medicines and medical devices, authentication is not a nice-to-have. It is a safety requirement,” said Line Klit Olsen, CEO of PUFIN-ID. “This project is about making it significantly harder for counterfeit products to pass as genuine and easier for both industry and end-users to verify authenticity.”

Why Current Identification Methods Are Not Enough

Unique Device Identification (UDI) is a regulatory requirement, but most existing solutions are not designed for security. QR codes and barcodes can be copied, and RFID solutions often require dedicated infrastructure and cost levels that limit broad adoption. These weaknesses create opportunities for counterfeiters and complicate efforts to ensure end-to-end traceability.

PUFIN-ID’s PUF-based marks are generated by random microscopic patterns of titanium particles embedded in ink. These patterns cannot be reproduced or removed, and they provide a physical link between the product and its secure digital identity.

Funding Supports Validation and Real-World Readiness

The Grand Solutions funding will support further development, validation, regulatory readiness, and testing in real production environments. The work includes collaboration with Novo Nordisk and builds on research developed with the University of Copenhagen.

“This funding supports the next step from laboratory results to validated deployment,” said Thomas Just Sørensen, Professor at the University of Copenhagen. “If we want stronger patient safety and stronger supply chain trust, we need authentication methods that cannot simply be copied.”

About PUFIN-ID

PUFIN-ID is a Danish technology company specializing in secure product authentication and traceability. Its commercial platform, O-KEY, combines patented Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) marks with cloud-based data management to enable instant verification, traceability, and compliance support across high-risk industries including pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

To learn more, visit www.okey.codes