In August 2010 I started an annual estimate of the rise in the percentage of drugs in the U.S. supply chain that will have serial numbers attached. Click here to read my first essay on the topic which explains the concept. Click here to read my 2011 essay and click here to read my 2012 essay. These are not estimates of the actual percentage today. Rather, it is a prediction of the rise from an immeasurably small percentage in early 2010 to 100% at some time in the future. My plan was to Continue reading InBrief: Estimated Rise in Serialized Drugs in The U.S. Supply Chain, 2013
Yearly Archives: 2013
Federal Pedigree: Caught In A Web Of Politics
Seventeen months ago, the goal of the Pharmaceutical Distribution Security Alliance (PDSA) was to get a nationwide track & trace bill introduced into Congress and then get it attached to some “must-pass” legislation which would pull it through to certain passage. They found sympathetic members of both houses of Congress and they worked together to produce a single bill. Last summer the “must-pass” legislation was the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) which was combined with other bills and was enacted as the FDA Security and Innovation Act (FDASIA). See “What If RxTEC Isn’t Adopted?”, “PDUFA Will Not Include RxTEC” and “The Supply Chain Provisions Of The FDA Safety & Innovation Act”.)
Unfortunately the track & trace Continue reading Federal Pedigree: Caught In A Web Of Politics
Senators Propose Amendments To S. 959
As many of you pointed out to me in private emails last Friday after I had claimed that things had been quiet, there had indeed been some significant activity on S. 959, “Pharmaceutical Quality, Security, and Accountability Act” (PQSA) that occurred last week. Even though the bill was awaiting action on the Senate floor, the bill managers in the Senate are apparently able to pull it back and amend it, and that’s what they did. The bill is a combination of the “Pharmaceutical Compounding Quality and Accountability Act” and the “Drug Supply Chain Security Act” and my interest is in the latter so I will limit my analysis to that part of the current bill.
The amendments are fairly light and sprinkled throughout. Most have little to no affect on the meaning or implementation of the bill–these include reformatting, corrections and minor logical adjustments–but there are a few things that are notable. Continue reading Senators Propose Amendments To S. 959
Still Waiting For The Senate
A number of RxTrace subscribers asked me to provide an update on the current state of the federal pedigree legislation since things have been so quiet lately. As you may recall, the U.S. House of Representatives passed their H.R. 1919, “Safeguarding America’s Pharmaceuticals Act” about six weeks ago (see “InBrief: The Pharma Track & Trace Bill Has Passed the U.S. House Of Representatives“). The Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee sent their S. 959 “Pharmaceutical Compounding Quality and Accountability Act” to the Senate floor two months ago (see. “InBrief: A Track & Trace bill Has Made It To The Senate Floor“).
So currently we are waiting for Continue reading Still Waiting For The Senate
Summer Writing: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Me
In his excellent 2008 book “Outliers: The Story of Success”, Malcolm Gladwell examined why the year 1955 seemed to spawn so many of the founders of the personal computer industry, including Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and others. In a nutshell, it is because being born in that year increased the odds that a person would be at a certain point in their lives in the month of January 1975. That was the month in which a critical event occurred that most people believe was the trigger for the personal computer revolution: The Continue reading Summer Writing: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Me
InBrief: CBO Estimates S. 959 Would Exceed Unfunded Mandate Threshold For Private Entities In At Least One Year
Just as they did just prior to the U.S. House of Representatives vote on H.R. 1919 “Safeguarding America’s Pharmaceuticals Act of 2013” (see “InBrief: CBO Estimates H.R. 1919 Would Exceed Unfunded Mandate Threshold For Private Entities“), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just published their estimates of the public and private costs to implement S. 959 “Pharmaceutical Quality, Security, and Accountability Act” relative to the Federal Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), paving the way for a vote in the Senate. Continue reading InBrief: CBO Estimates S. 959 Would Exceed Unfunded Mandate Threshold For Private Entities In At Least One Year
Fall Conference Season Preview
I am a fan of attending conferences because, in addition to hearing thought-provoking presentations by knowledgeable speakers, you get to connect with the other attendees to learn what they are doing and thinking. That’s why it is so important to select the right conferences. Your goal should be to find the conferences that attract the best attendees so that you have the opportunity to make new connections and get updates from your existing ones. Of course, the speakers Continue reading Fall Conference Season Preview
Will Generic Drug Manufacturers Serialize Their Drugs In Time?
The one thing all pharmaceutical manufacturers can count on, regardless of whether or not the U.S. Congress passes a new track and trace regulation in this or future sessions, is that unit-level serialization will be a necessity on drug packages sold into the U.S. market within the next few years. We have all been paying close attention to the draft legislation that has been moving through the two houses of Congress for several months now, but there is no doubt that unit-level serialization will be required whether something passes at the federal level or not. The only questions are, exactly which year will it be required and what else will be required?
We know that Continue reading Will Generic Drug Manufacturers Serialize Their Drugs In Time?
