IMVO | Irish Medicines Verification Organisation

What IMVO | Irish Medicines Verification Organisation does

IMVO (Irish Medicines Verification Organisation) is a non-profit company limited by guarantee, established in 2017 and legally mandated under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/161 to establish and manage the Irish Medicines Verification System (IMVS) — Ireland's national node of the European Medicines Verification System (EMVS). The organization protects Irish patients from falsified medicines by enabling authentication of prescription medicines at the point of dispense through 2D barcode scanning against unique pack-level identifiers. Its core technology, the IMVS, is operated by technology partner Solidsoft Reply and connects to the EU Hub managed by EMVO, through which marketing authorisation holders upload product data.

IMVO's customer base spans four primary stakeholder groups: community pharmacies, hospitals, pharmaceutical wholesalers, and marketing authorisation holders (MAHs), plus a secondary ecosystem of FMD software providers that integrate with the IMVS. The revenue model is fee-based, with MAHs paying a one-off €1,000 registration fee and annual user fees (with a 60% rebate available for MAHs under €100,000 in Irish turnover), supplemented by subscriptions from IMVO's five founding member organisations. End-user registration for pharmacies, hospitals, and wholesalers is free. Supporting tools include the NMVS Alerts system for alert investigation, the IMVS Portal for account administration, the Emergency Verification Application (EVA) for manual verification, and scanner configuration utilities.

The organization operates from a single Dublin headquarters at 7 Clanwilliam Terrace, with HPRA supervising regulatory compliance and an appointed Independent Chairperson (Paul Reid, from March 2026) overseeing governance. IMVO's recently published Corporate Strategy 2025-2027 signals intent to expand its offering beyond verification operations, while day-to-day activities center on stakeholder webinars, FMD compliance support, and Windsor Framework adaptation in a post-Brexit context.

Name

IMVO | Irish Medicines Verification Organisation

Legal name

Irish Medicines Verification Organisation

Website

https://imvo.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

IMVO is Ireland's non-profit regulatory body operating the national medicines verification system (IMVS), authenticating prescription medicines via 2D barcode scanning to protect patients from falsified drugs under EU regulation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pharmaceutical Verification / Medicines Authentication

NAICS

Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (6215)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Fraud Prevention & Identity Verification (IDV/KYC) (BPAMAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Identity & Access Management (IAM) for Healthcare (HLACAJAA)

Keywords

• Medicines verification
• Pharmaceutical compliance
• Falsified medicines prevention
• Drug serialization
• Pharmaceutical traceability

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin 2

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. MAH Fees: IMVO is primarily funded by fees charged to marketing authorisation holders (MAHs) whose pack data is contained in the IMVO repository. This includes a one-off registration fee of €1,000 and annual user fees.
2. Member Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions paid by founding member organisations represent a small proportion of IMVO's income.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

IMVO operates the Irish Medicines Verification System (IMVS), the national platform that verifies the authenticity of prescription medicines in Ireland through 2D barcode scanning as part of the European Medicines Verification System (EMVS). The organisation enables pharmacies, hospitals, wholesalers, and marketing authorisation holders to comply with the EU Falsified Medicines Directive by connecting to a central repository of unique pack identifiers. IMVO also provides the NMVS Alerts system for managing verification exceptions, an Emergency Verification Application (EVA) for manual barcode entry, and onboarding/certification services for FMD software providers.

Product overview

IMVO operates the Irish Medicines Verification System (IMVS) as a single unified platform for verifying prescription medicines authenticity in Ireland, part of the broader European Medicines Verification System (EMVS). The core IMVS enables real-time verification of medicines via 2D barcode scanning, supported by the NMVS Alerts system for alert investigation management and the IMVS Portal for account administration. Additional tools include the Emergency Verification Application (EVA) for manual barcode entry, FMD Software Provider certification services, Operation Code Search for alert diagnostics, and Scanner Configuration tools. The system connects to the EU Hub (managed by EMVO) for cross-border data exchange and is accessed through certified FMD software solutions from third-party providers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Irish Medicines Verification System (IMVS) The core national medicines verification system that verifies the authenticity of prescription medicines by scanning 2D barcodes (data matrix codes) containing unique identifiers including product code, serial number, batch number, and expiry date. It is part of the European Medicines Verification System (EMVS) and serves pharmacies, hospitals, wholesalers, and marketing authorisation holders (MAHs) in Ireland.
• NMVS Alerts IMVO's web-based alert management system for efficient handling of alerts generated when medicines are scanned. The tool facilitates quick communication between end-users, MAHs, and IMVO regarding alerts and provides an overview of alert status based on information entered by all parties. Used by pharmacies, hospitals, wholesalers, and MAHs for exception management.
• IMVS Portal Web-based portal for end-users (pharmacies, hospitals, wholesalers) to manage their IMVS account, add/delete locations, generate client credentials (client ID and client secret), add/delete equipment, and update location details. Access requires username, password, and 6-digit authorisation code.
• Emergency Verification Application (EVA) Online manual entry portal for verifying or decommissioning packs when barcode scanning is not possible. Users type in the unique identifier data printed on the pack. Pharmacies can verify and decommission as destroyed, sample, and supplied; wholesalers can verify and decommission as destroyed, sample, supplied, locked, exported, and stolen.
• FMD Software Provider Onboarding & Certification Onboarding and certification process for FMD software providers to connect their solutions to the IMVS. Includes organisation details form, legitimacy checks, and self-certification testing in the IMVS quality environment using an SDK provided by IMVO. Targets software vendors developing dispensing, stock management, and standalone FMD solutions.

Quantifiable outcome

• No counterfeits have been identified to date in Ireland in the legitimate supply chain through FMD scanning

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Solidsoft ReplycoreTechnology or IntegrationSolidsoft Reply operates the national medicines verification systems, including the Irish Medicines Verification System (IMVS). They provide the technical infrastructure, SDK, and support for FMD software providers connecting to the system. Technical support is available via service desk Monday-Saturday 08:00-20:00.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Movilitas: Movilitas provides pharmaceutical serialization and traceability consulting and software solutions that integrate with national medicines verification systems including IMVS. It operates in the adjacent serialization ecosystem serving MAHs and software providers connecting to NMVOs.

Others

• Solidsoft Reply: Solidsoft Reply operates the IMVS technology platform for IMVO and is the technology partner for multiple national medicines verification systems across Europe. It is a key enabling technology vendor rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• TraceLink: TraceLink is a major pharmaceutical serialization and supply chain traceability platform that connects MAHs to national verification systems globally including in the EU FMD framework. It is a broad incumbent in the underlying serialization ecosystem IMVO operates within.
• European Medicines Verification Organisation (EMVO): EMVO operates the EU Hub that connects all national medicines verification systems including IMVS. It is the umbrella European-level organisation overseeing the framework that IMVO implements nationally.
• Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA): HPRA is Ireland's regulator responsible for supervising IMVO and the IMVS under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/161. While broader in scope (covering all health products regulation), it is a key institutional peer in the same pharmaceutical oversight domain.

Direct peers

• SEVeM: SEVeM is the Spanish national medicines verification organisation tasked with operating the Spanish NMVS under EU FMD. It is a directly comparable peer serving the same regulatory function as IMVO.
• France MVO (CIPAM): France MVO operates the French national medicines verification system (NMVS) under the same EU Falsified Medicines Directive framework as IMVO. It is a directly comparable NMVO with the same stakeholder-driven non-profit structure.
• securPharm: securPharm is the German national medicines verification organisation operating the securPharm system for FMD compliance in Germany. It performs the same regulatory mandate as IMVO at a much larger national scale, making it the most directly comparable peer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCp0hqmU3Uk_9xY3Z3oT8eQA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/irish-medicines-verification-organisation

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about IMVO | Irish Medicines Verification Organisation