Last month, Eli Lilly posted a video about their serialization initiative on YouTube. It features Grant Lindman, Manager of Lilly’s Global Anti-Counterfeiting Operations, and David Colombo, Commercial Implementation Leader of Lilly’s Global Serialization Program talking about their global serialization program. It is worth a listen. Continue reading Eli Lilly: “Serialization Needs Standardization”
Dr Ilisa Bernstein of FDA CDER Office of Compliance To Keynote PSM Interchange
The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) announced recently that Ilisa Bernstein, Pharm.D, JD, Deputy Director of the U.S. FDA Office of Compliance in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), will be the keynote speaker at their annual Interchange event next Thursday, October 24, 2013 at the Newseum in Washington DC. RxTrace is a media partner for the event again this year and I plan to attend.
According to the PSM website:
“The annual Interchange brings together policymakers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, patient advocates, law enforcement, healthcare professionals, and anti-counterfeiting companies to discuss the problem and solutions to the global scourge of pharmaceutical counterfeiting.”
Dr. Bernstein Continue reading Dr Ilisa Bernstein of FDA CDER Office of Compliance To Keynote PSM Interchange
Will Use Of EPCIS Force Everyone To Use GS1 Identifiers?
Over the last five years the larger companies in the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain have increasingly aligned around GS1’s Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standard for holding and communicating serialization-based events. The hope and expectation by many of these manufactures and others in the supply chain is that EPCIS will be the standard that ensures supply-chain-wide interoperability in any future track and trace or ePedigree system that the federal government might impose. On its surface it appears that EPCIS is designed around GS1’s family of serialized identifiers, which are based on GS1’s GS1 Company Prefix (GCP) (see “Anatomy of a GTIN” and “Your GS1 Company Prefix: An Enterprise Resource“). This includes Continue reading Will Use Of EPCIS Force Everyone To Use GS1 Identifiers?
California, Congress and The Choices We Are Forced To Face
Another week has gone by with no official movement in the Senate on the compromise pharmaceutical compounding and track & trace bill, H.R. 3204, the Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) (see “Waiting For The Senate To Act On A Track & Trace Bill, Again”). With the focus of the Congress rightly on reopening the government I think we should expect to wait a little longer. You can bet that the supporters and the opposition are both developing their strategy as time goes by.
I attended the GS1 Global Healthcare Conference in San Francisco last week and it was a great opportunity to reconnect with a lot of people I have worked with over the years on defining workable standards for healthcare supply chain data exchange. Some of us are Continue reading California, Congress and The Choices We Are Forced To Face
Waiting For The Senate To Act On A Track & Trace Bill, Again
The U.S. House of Representatives made quick work of the new bipartisan, bicameral compounding and track & trace bill draft that was circulated only last Wednesday evening (see “InBrief: Important New Bicameral Draft Of A Pharma Supply Chain Security Bill”). They interrupted their debate over defunding “ObamaCare”, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), for a quick voice vote on the newly numbered H.R. 3204, Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) and it passed (see the draft bill here).
So now we are waiting for the Senate to take action, just as we have for the last 3 months since the House of Representatives voted to pass their earlier bill with drug supply chain track & trace provisions, H.R. 1919, Safeguarding America’s Pharmaceuticals Act, back in June (see “InBrief: The Pharma Track & Trace Bill Has Passed the U.S. House Of Representatives“ and “Still Waiting For The Senate”). The Senate had their own Continue reading Waiting For The Senate To Act On A Track & Trace Bill, Again
InBrief: Important New Bicameral Draft Of A Pharma Supply Chain Security Bill
I just arrived in California a couple hours ago to attend the next California Board of Pharmacy ePedigree Committee meeting later this morning. I was expecting to check into my hotel and go to bed, but as soon as I turned my phone back on I received multiple notices that a new bipartisan, bicameral draft of a pharma supply chain security bill was being circulated for review and comment. The email from the Senate HELP Committee was timestamped at 9:54pm EDT on Wednesday and they want people to comment on it by noon on Thursday. Wow. I still hope to get some sleep tonight, but I wanted to Continue reading InBrief: Important New Bicameral Draft Of A Pharma Supply Chain Security Bill
UDI And The Approaching End Of The NDC
To be honest, I was somewhat surprised when Jay Crowley announced during last week’s UDI Conference that the U.S. FDA had published the final rules for Unique Device Identification (UDI). Its publication starts the clock on a host of new requirements designed to identify most medical devices in the U.S. market with the same standard approach. That is expected to result in the reduction of errors made by medical professionals and also increase the accuracy and efficiency of the supply chain. I’ve become a little jaded about healthcare Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) deadlines lately and so the fact that one actually happened caught me slightly off-guard. Of course, UDI was Continue reading UDI And The Approaching End Of The NDC
InBrief: FDA Publishes Final UDI Rule
The FDA has finally published the long-awaited final rule on Unique Device Identification (UDI). I was in the audience at the UDI Conference this morning when Jay Crowley of the FDA made the announcement. Sparkling juice was distributed to the entire audience of 400+ attendees shortly after the announcement. See “FDA finalizes new system to identify medical devices“).
Yesterday Mr. Crowley arrived at the conference opening with a short beard. George Wright IV suggested that perhaps he wasn’t shaving until the final rule was published. Sure enough, he arrived this morning with the beard shaved off. He was due to Continue reading InBrief: FDA Publishes Final UDI Rule
