Last week I listened in on a Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) call hosted by one of the Big-3 U.S. wholesale distributors. It was a well-run call that included several presentations and a Q&A session. Several times the question was discussed about whether or not the wholesale distributor would accept non-serialized product in the time between November 27, 2017 and November 27, 2019. Continue reading Who Will Enforce The DSCSA 2017 Serialization Mandate?
Tag Archives: FDA
Is A GS1 GTIN Really Usable As An NDC For DSCSA Compliance? Part 2
Part 1 of this essay provided a wealth of hyperlinks into the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and FDA guidance documents with content related to placing the National Drug Code in human- and machine-readable form onto drug packages prior to November 27, 2017 (see “Is A GS1 GTIN Really Usable As An NDC For DSCSA Compliance? Part 1”). In Part 2, we will look at how the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) will change, or add-to, the requirements found in those earlier specifications. And finally, we will be able to answer the question in the essay title.
HOW THE DSCSA CHANGES THE NDC AND BARCODE REQUIREMENTS FOR DRUG PACKAGES
First of all, the DSCSA does not change anything Continue reading Is A GS1 GTIN Really Usable As An NDC For DSCSA Compliance? Part 2
An Open Letter To The FDA, RE: Please Fix The National Drug Code Soon
Dear FDA,
Thanks for inviting me to your DSCSA Pilot Party this week. I look forward to visiting you at your Silver Spring home so we can catch up on what’s been happing in our lives recently. I’m glad you are thinking more about the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) lately. I am too.
In fact, I’ve been thinking about how nice it would be if you would fix the broken National Drug Code (NDC) as part of the implementation of the DSCSA. It’s really not very hard to do. You already laid out and tested the path that needs to be followed when you implemented the Unique Device Identification (UDI) numbering system for medical devices a few years ago.
Remember how happy that made me? Remember, I called it “revolutionary” (see “FDA Proposed UDI: A Revolution In Number Assignment”), and it was! But before I get to how you could do it for pharmaceuticals, let me explain why you should do it as clearly as I can. Continue reading An Open Letter To The FDA, RE: Please Fix The National Drug Code Soon
Drug Verification: EU Vs US
Drug verification is at the heart of most pharma serialization regulations. It is the point at which someone in the supply chain or a patient uses the unique identifier on the drug package to determine that the drug is probably authentic, or definitely is not. We can tell a lot about the intent of a given serialization regulation by looking at the specific language that determines by whom and when a unique identifier must be verified. Continue reading Drug Verification: EU Vs US
FDA Limits Ongoing Dispenser Enforcement Discretion To First Responders
Back in October the FDA announced the extended use of enforcement discretion to temporarily set aside the data exchange provisions of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) for dispensers until March 1, 2016 (see “FDA Extends Dispenser Delay in DSCSA Enforcement“). That was itself an additional four month extension to the four month enforcement discretion they originally announced on June 30 (see “FDA Publishes New Guidance Delaying Dispenser 3T Requirements Until November 1, 2015“). Many dispensers were hoping for another extension in these last few days of February. It turns out, the enforcement discretion will be extended until further notice, but apparently mostly just for first responders. Continue reading FDA Limits Ongoing Dispenser Enforcement Discretion To First Responders
‘An Open Letter To The FDA, EMA and ANVISA, RE: Who Are You Going To Punish?’, Again
I hope your holidays were filled with love and cheer. Mine were. It was great. So great, in fact, that I did not have time to write a brand new essay for today. Not much has happened lately since we are still awaiting publications from the FDA, the EC and ANVISA (and others), Instead, here is one of my best essays from 2015, reposted as it appeared on August 31, 2015 without modification (see “An Open Letter To The FDA, EMA and ANVISA, RE: Who Are You Going To Punish?“). I’m even leaving in the off-season references. If you read this essay back then, you might enjoy it again. If you did not read it back then, I recommend that you read it now. Let me know what you think.
Before we begin, if you have not yet responded to the 2016 RxTrace U.S. Pharma Traceability Survey, sponsored by Frequentz, please to so now. It is open to everyone and the survey will be closed soon.
Pay No Attention To The Enforcement Delay Unless You Are A Dispenser
As I reported last Thursday, the FDA published new revised guidance that extends their enforcement delay of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) data exchange requirements for dispensers by an additional 4 months (see “FDA Extends Dispenser Delay in DSCSA Enforcement“). What does this mean for drug manufacturers, wholesale distributors and repackagers? Continue reading Pay No Attention To The Enforcement Delay Unless You Are A Dispenser
3PL Operation Under The DSCSA
Another type of business affected by the U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) is the third party logistics provider (3PL) business.
I wrote an RxTrace essay about the impact of the California pedigree law on 3PLs back in 2013 (see “3PL Operation Under California ePedigree“). This is an update of that essay to address the impacts of the new DSCSA on 3PLs since the California pedigree law is now obsolete.
There are a number of important differences between wholesale distributors and 3PLs as defined in the DSCSA. Continue reading 3PL Operation Under The DSCSA
