More than ever before, drug security is an important issue in
ensuring the integrity of medicines and vaccines reaching patients. The
industry needs to demonstrate that we care for patients, and are putting
all necessary measures in place to ensure that medicines are safe to be
taken.
That means knowing the entire journey of a medicine through the
supply chain, and having fully automated documentation about the
conditions on its journey. One of the ways in which this can be
addressed in the cold supply chain is through serialization. A key
driver for implementing serialization will be global compliance
requirements coming into play. The USA introduced the Drug Supply Chain
Security Act at the end of 2013, which will require the availability of
information at individual package level about where a drug has been in
the supply chain.
What is serialization?
Serialization enables product authentication and product quality
monitoring, by assigning a unique traceable number to each individual
package or container. This unique number, as it is tracked through the
supply chain, allows key stakeholders do several things:
- enable verification of the legitimacy of the drug product identifier down to package level
- enhance detection and notification of illegitimate products in the drug supply chain
- facilitate more efficient recalls of drug products
Essentially this facilitates the prevention of and identification of
counterfeit, diverted, sub-standard or adulterated drugs in the market,
and provides accountability for the movement of drugs by participants in
the supply chain.
Why it is needed
Serialization and security technologies are a vital part of
addressing counterfeiting and theft of drugs – according to some
estimates global drug counterfeiting is a $200 billion market.
Counterfeit drugs can result in financial loss, but for patients it
could mean the difference between life and death, especially if the fake
medicines are manufactured with sub-standard materials or have diluted
dosages.
According to this article, ‘How technology can protect consumers and pharma companies from fake drugs’,
Interpol estimates that 10 percent to 30 percent of all pharmaceutical
drugs in circulation in the world are counterfeit and that up to one
million people will die annually from counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
How serialization helps – providing absolute traceability
Serialization provides absolute traceability, sometimes down to
individual packs; by providing this level of detail for the entire
supply chain, it makes companies accountable, and enables them to act
with confidence and speed should a recall be required. It also ensures
that a pharmacy or distribution point can be identified and informed
quickly and effectively if any problems occur, reducing the level of
risk in the supply chain.
The USA introduced the Drug Supply Chain Security Act
at the end of 2013, which by 2023 is expected to have in place, in
different phases, the following requirements for drug traceability and
accountability on the part of the supply chain involving manufacturers,
wholesaler drug distributors, repackagers, and many dispensers
(primarily pharmacies):
- Product identification: manufacturers and repackagers to put a unique product identifier on certain prescription drug packages, for example, using a bar code that can be easily read electronically.
- Product tracing: all stakeholders in the drug supply chain to provide information about a drug and who handled it each time it is sold in the US market.
- Product verification: all stakeholders to establish systems and processes to be able to verify the product identifier on certain prescription drug packages.
- Detection and response: all stakeholders to quarantine and promptly investigate a drug that has been identified as suspect, meaning that it may be counterfeit, unapproved, or potentially dangerous.
- Notification: all stakeholders to establish systems and processes to notify FDA and other stakeholders if an illegitimate drug is found.
- Wholesaler licensing: Wholesale drug distributors to report their licensing status and contact information to FDA. This information will then be made available in a public database.
- Third-party logistics provider licensing: Third-party logistic providers, those who provide storage and logistical operations related to drug distribution, to obtain a state or federal license.
Other countries are also in different phases of discussion about
introduction of regulations requiring serialization, to ensure
accountability and traceability – for example China, India, Mexico,
Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Europe...
Read entire article at the Cold Chain View blog.
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