Category Archives: DSCSA

DSCSA, HDA

HDA Guidelines For Bar Coding In The Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

It has been six years since the Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) updated their full barcode guidelines (see “Updated HDMA Bar Code Guidance: A Must Read”).  They just updated it again with major changes over the 2011 version.  The new document is called “HDA Guidelines For Bar Coding In The Pharmaceutical Supply Chain” and it is available on HDA’s website here.  With the passage of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in November of 2013, an update was long overdue.

You are forgiven if you thought the HDA updated the barcode guidelines only one year ago Continue reading HDA Guidelines For Bar Coding In The Pharmaceutical Supply Chain →

DSCSA

Sponsored: FDA DSCSA Public Meeting Q&A

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 →

DSCSA

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)? →

DSCSA

Why Aren’t Health Insurance Companies Interested In Pharma Traceability in the US?

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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? →

DSCSA

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 →

DSCSA

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? →

DSCSA

DSCSA: The U.S. Pharma Supply Chain Must Organize, Or Risk Failure, Again

iStock_000021010135XSmallA couple of days before President Obama signed the DQSA legislation back in 2013 I published an RxTrace essay that looked at what was going to be necessary in the next year from the FDA and the industry (see “DQSA: The U.S. Pharma Supply Chain Must Organize, Or Risk Failure“).  The initial standards necessary at that time were for data exchange, and the FDA had one year to come up with them.  My essay was about the need for the industry to work with the FDA to come up with the standards that would work.  The FDA didn’t have the expertise or the knowledge of how the supply chain operated and so I felt it was imperative for the industry to help them out.

Fast forward to today.  Rather than data exchange standards, the FDA is facing Continue reading DSCSA: The U.S. Pharma Supply Chain Must Organize, Or Risk Failure, Again →

DSCSA

FDA DSCSA Public Meeting #1 Exposes Gulf In Goals

The FDA held the first of three scheduled DSCSA public meetings last week.  This one focused on:

  • The vision for 2023; and,
  • The enhanced drug distribution security (EDDS) needs related to tracing prescription drugs at the package level.

The meeting started off with short presentations by representatives from:

In the short time they were each given, these speakers Continue reading FDA DSCSA Public Meeting #1 Exposes Gulf In Goals →