The two days after the next FDA DSCSA Public Meeting, IQPC will hold their Pharmaceutical Traceability Forum | Interactive event in Washington DC. The FDA meeting will be on December 5 and 6, and the IQPC event will be on December 7 and 8. Perfect for attending two vitally important meetings, and only having to travel once. The Pharmaceutical Traceability Forum | Interactive event includes a slate of excellent speakers who will provide you with their immediate impressions of the FDA meeting that will have just occurred, and the one that was held back in August (see “FDA DSCSA Public Meeting #1 Exposes Gulf In Goals”). Continue reading Sponsored: FDA DSCSA Public Meeting Q&A
All posts by Dirk Rodgers
A US Medicines Verification Organization (USMVO)?
The Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) makes it clear that the FDA must work with industry stakeholders to figure out exactly how the US pharma supply chain should meet its requirements after November 27, 2023–see DSCSA Section 582(g). That section specifies “The transaction information and the transaction statements shall be exchanged in a secure, interoperable, electronic manner…”. There is no mention of the creation of an independent third-party to design or coordinate that exchange, and Continue reading A US Medicines Verification Organization (USMVO)?
Why Aren’t Health Insurance Companies Interested In Pharma Traceability in the US?
Except for Medicare/Medicaid, the United States and Australia are the only countries in the world that do not rely primarily on “single-payer healthcare”. The term refers only to who pays for the healthcare of citizens, not how that care is delivered. Those two countries rely primarily on private insurance companies to act as “payers” of healthcare for most citizens and the funds used to pay are Continue reading Why Aren’t Health Insurance Companies Interested In Pharma Traceability in the US?
HDA Schools FDA On DSCSA
Last week the Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) submitted nine pages of comments in response to the FDA’s Request For Comments in docket number FDA-2017-N-3857 (find their submission here). It is worthwhile for you to read because the HDA generally sets the gold standard for detailed analysis of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), and because this one is particularly pertinent to discussions going on at the FDA and around the industry right now. Continue reading HDA Schools FDA On DSCSA
OPEN-SCS Announces Major Milestone
Today, the Open Serialization Communication Standard (OPEN-SCS) Group, a collection of healthcare sector companies dedicated to standardizing packaging line serialization and aggregation data exchanges, will announce a major milestone in the push to streamline global track & trace processes. At Pack Expo in Las Vegas, the organization will hold a press conference to formally introduce its initial Serialization Standard, the Packaging Serialization Specification (PSS) 1.0. The achievement is to be revealed in Continue reading OPEN-SCS Announces Major Milestone
Does Interoperability Change In 2023?
There are many terms specifically defined within the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) text (see “Don’t Skip The DQSA Definition of Terms Section”). One of the words you should expect to be defined there is “interoperability”, because it plays such a big role in the system(s) that must be used by everyone in the supply chain after November 27, 2023. That is, the “…interoperable, electronic tracing of product at the package level…” that is at the core of the Enhanced Drug Distribution Security (EDDS) phase that is defined in Section 582(g). But surprisingly, the term is not defined in the text.
In fact, it appears to be left up to Continue reading Does Interoperability Change In 2023?
Sponsored: Don’t Miss These Back-To-Back Pharma Serialization and Tracing Events
There is a rare alignment of events that will happen in the first week of December that is so special that you need to put it on your calendar. There are two important pharma serialization events that will occur in the Washington DC area and anyone with a serious interest in that subject should attend both. These events line up perfectly to allow you to travel once, and spend four days that will solidify your understanding of the issues and opportunities embedded within the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in particular, and pharma serialization in general. Continue reading Sponsored: Don’t Miss These Back-To-Back Pharma Serialization and Tracing Events
The FMD Product Code
Under the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD), starting on February 9, 2019 drug manufacturers must begin affixing a new Unique Identifier and an anti-tamper device to all consumer packages of prescription drugs (see “The E.C. Officially Published The Pharma Safety Feature Delegated Act This Morning”). The Unique Identifier must be composed of a Product Code, Serial Number, Batch Number, Expiration Date and, where required, a National Reimbursement Code (see “The ‘Unique Identifier’ in the EU Delegated Act”). This data must be uploaded to the E.U. Hub prior to shipment into the supply chain. All of the details are spelled out in the Delegated Regulation (EUDR).
One of the more interesting aspects of the FMD/EUDR is the Product Code. Continue reading The FMD Product Code
