More than 700,000 lives could be saved each year thanks to a new laser system of identifying fake malaria and tuberculosis drugs.
About 100,000 deaths each year in Africa alone are linked to the billion-dollar trade, which often sees substances like chalk or flour passed off as life-saving treatments.
It is almost impossible to identify such treatments using the naked eye, but researchers say the new laser "watermark" could be used to stop the illegal trade.
Cambridge University has developed the technique which could also be used on banknotes and designer goods.
Dr Damian Gardiner, from the university's electrical engineering division, said: "Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are sold fake pharmaceuticals under the mistaken belief that they will help them, while counterfeit products cost companies hundreds of billions of pounds.
"We think that our printed lasers could be used to protect both products and people."
The fraud detection device, which features in a new report by the Cambridge Innovation and Knowledge Centre, uses existing methods for printing liquid crystal lasers with inkjet printers.
This allows far more detailed patterns or colour combinations to be specified than would be the case using traditional watermarking techniques.
When a second laser is directed on to the liquid crystal pattern, it emits a light signature which can then be analysed by a computer and is far more difficult to fake.
The trace can be printed on surfaces ranging from paper to glass or plastics, and in the case of pharmaceuticals would be used to identify drug packaging.
Dr Gardiner said: "Techniques like fluorescence have been used to protect goods for a while, but lasers give us much finer control over brand protection."
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