Category Archives: Verification

DSCSA, Verification

GS1 US Publishes New DSCSA VRS Implementation Guide

Last week GS1 US announced that they have published a new implementation guideline to help companies in the US pharma supply chain make use of the new GS1 lightweight messaging standard for verification of product identifiers to meet the saleable returned drug verification requirement of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA).  The messaging standard itself was ratified by GS1 in January and it can be used to implement a wide range of product verification schemes in any industry.  The new GS1 US guideline is a valuable resource for companies wanting to apply that standard to the problem of verifying drugs that fall under the DSCSA, so it contains a wealth of information needed to ensure interoperability of Verification Router Service (VRS) solutions.

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DSCSA, Verification

HDA Makes A Strong Case For ‘Reframing’ Of FDA’s Draft Guidance On DSCSA Verification Systems

Last October the FDA published a draft guidance called “Verification Systems Under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) for Certain Prescription Drugs” (see “DSCSA: Verification Systems Draft Guidance”).  Near the end of the comment period in December, the Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) submitted comments containing proposed changes.  Like other comments submitted by the HDA for other FDA DSCSA guidance, these are well worth reading.  Once again, the HDA demonstrates their thorough understanding of the DSCSA and their ability to clearly and crisply explain where the FDA’s draft language fails to reflect the language in the original law. 

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Verification

GS1’s Messaging Standard For Verification Of Product Identifiers

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For companies in the US pharma supply chain, 2019 is going to be the year of an important milestone of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA).   In November, wholesale distributors will be required to begin issuing verification requests to manufacturers, at the Standardized Numerical Identifier (SNI) level, for any returned drug that is still saleable, before they resell it.  I’ve written a lot about this change in the past.  

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Verification

What’s So Hard About Unique Identifier Verification?

Both, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in the US and the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) in the EU make use of unique identifier verification in one way or another.  Under the FMD, verification is the centerpiece of patient protection.  Under the DSCSA, verification is used as a tool to help resolve higher risk use cases, like saleable returns to wholesale distributors, and anytime someone becomes “suspicious” about a collection of drug packages.  On the surface, verification of unique identifiers seems simple, but there are some sticky problems that make it complex in some circumstances (see also “Drug Verification: EU Vs US”). Continue reading What’s So Hard About Unique Identifier Verification? →