Launch of smartphone camera scanning of GS1 DataMatrix barcodes marks a
global breakthrough for patient safety.
New capability will allow patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals to
access trusted medical product information using Google Lens, paving the
way for wider digital access to trusted data
Brussels, Belgium –20 November 2025 – GS1, the global organisation
behind the barcode, today announced a collaboration with Google that
enables GS1 DataMatrix barcodes – already printed on millions of medicine
packs worldwide – to be scanned and recognized by Google Lens, the
company’s visual search tool.
With this new functionality, patients, caregivers, and healthcare
professionals will be able to use their smartphones to scan a GS1 DataMatrix
barcode and access trusted product information, including electronic patient
leaflets (ePILs). This marks a critical first step in advancing access to trusted
medical product information.
While the functionality is now available through Google Lens, broad access to
trusted medical information will depend on adoption by manufacturers. GS1
is working with several global companies to implement this capability and
encourages all pharmaceutical and medical devices manufacturers to make
their product information available online so that patients everywhere can
benefit.
“This collaboration between GS1 and Google is a major step forward in
connecting the physical and digital worlds of healthcare,” said Renaud de
Barbuat, President and CEO of GS1. “By enabling smartphone-native access
to trusted medicine data, we’re advancing global healthcare transparency
and giving patients and professionals the information they need to act with
greater confidence.”
Building on two decades of healthcare digitalisation, the GS1 DataMatrix has
become the global standard for medicine identification and traceability. It
encodes essential details including batch number, expiry date, and unique
identifiers; key information required by healthcare regulations in more than
70 countries. Today, more than 16 billion medicine packs in the U.S. and EU
alone carry GS1 DataMatrix barcodes