A few months ago the FDA opened two “dockets”, or Requests for Comments (RFC) to collect ideas and experiences about technology pilots related to the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). The first docket was associated with the FDA Public Meeting held on April 5 and 6 (see “The 2016 FDA Pilots Workshop”). The second docket was opened shortly after the Public Meeting to continue collecting the same kind of information from anyone who had already conducted their own pilots or was planning future pilots. Both dockets are now closed so here is a look at the responses. Continue reading HDMA Responds To FDA Pilots RFC
Tag Archives: FDA workshop
InBrief: Pharma Supply Chain Leaders, Stop Throwing Interoperability Under The Bus
During the report out and follow-up discussion at last week’s FDA Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) Pilots Workgroup (see “The 2016 FDA Pilots Workshop”) I heard an example of the industry throwing interoperability under the bus. That is, setting us all up for major complications down the road that could easily be avoided if the leaders would just address interoperability right today. One of the long-time leaders of the use of serialization and traceability in the U.S. pharma industry spoke up in front of the entire assembly and said that there existed a general “agreement” within the industry that “not everyone will use EPCIS”. That is, not everyone will use GS1’s Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standard for meeting the DSCSA, and consequently, the FDA and the industry will need to allow other formats of the data in 2023. I just about fell out of my chair. Continue reading InBrief: Pharma Supply Chain Leaders, Stop Throwing Interoperability Under The Bus
The 2016 FDA Pilots Workshop
I was initially disappointed in the FDA Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) Pilots Workshop that was held at FDA headquarters last week, but in the end, the outcome appeared to fit the need. Going in, I knew not to expect the FDA to convey any information to the attendees, so that is not why I was disappointed. I attended the public DSCSA workshop they held back in May of 2014 so I already knew their typical approach for workshops like these (see “The 2014 FDA DSCSA Workshop”). I knew that the purpose of the workshop was to inform the FDA, not to inform the attendees. I would estimate that about one out of every four attendees were expecting the opposite, and I would bet a significant percentage of those had not even read the DSCSA once. But that’s not why I was disappointed.
I was initially disappointed because Continue reading The 2016 FDA Pilots Workshop
Sponsored: The Many Faces Of The FDA
Why is there such a wide gap between the actions of the UDI face of the FDA and the DSCSA face?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency of the U.S. government that falls under the Department of Health and Human Services, which is under the leadership of the current Presidential Administration through a cabinet seat. But it is also a concept, and the concept has been conceived, modified, adjusted, influenced and expanded—especially expanded—by many thousands of members of Congress that have served from 1906 to 2016. It started as a nearly powerless monitoring agency in 1906 with the passage of the Federal Food and Drugs Act. But in the aftermath of a number of widely-reported incidents of harm and deaths caused by cosmetics and medicines, the Congress passed the original Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FD&C) in 1938 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law.
Right from the beginning you had an agency with at least three faces: foods, drugs and cosmetics. Continue reading Sponsored: The Many Faces Of The FDA
The Coming Battle Over Decommissioning At The Pharmacy
The U.S. pharma supply chain will operate under two major phases as dictated by the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). We are now operating under the first major phase. Well, OK, it won’t be fully operational until July 1st when dispensers (see “Who Is A DSCSA Dispenser?”) are required to begin receiving, saving and retrieving Transaction Information (TI), Transaction History (TH), and Transaction Statements (TS) for each shipment they receive. Drug manufacturers, repackagers and wholesale distributors were supposed to begin exchanging those documents on January 1st but in late December the FDA issued a draft guidance that indicated they will not enforce that requirement until May 1st (see “FDA Postpones Enforcement of DSCSA Transaction Data Exchange Until May 1”). But be aware that according to the DSCSA, as of January 1st, all trading partners must be properly licensed and everyone may only buy and sell drugs legally from/to companies who hold a valid State or Federal license. Those and other requirements of the DSCSA were not delayed by the FDA.
The second major phase of the DSCSA will not occur until November 27, 2023 when the law transforms into something that is fairly nebulous right now. That is, between now and Continue reading The Coming Battle Over Decommissioning At The Pharmacy
FDA’s DSCSA Guidance in 2014
When Congress penned the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) last year it laid out specific dates and subjects for which it expected the FDA to publish guidance on. So far in 2014, the FDA has kept up with that schedule by holding a public meeting, publishing multiple draft guidances and setting up a website to collect information from wholesale distributors and third-party logistics providers.
The public meeting was held on May 8th and 9th to collect ideas for the standards that FDA should support for the interoperable exchange of transaction data in paper and electronic form, starting with manufacturers, repackagers and wholesale distributors on January 1, 2015 and dispensers on July 1, 2015 (see “The 2014 FDA DSCSA Workshop“). During the workshop, the attendees raised Continue reading FDA’s DSCSA Guidance in 2014
The 2014 FDA DSCSA Workshop
The U.S. FDA held their first industry workshop focusing on the new Federal Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) last Thursday and Friday at FDA Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. The goal of the workshop was to help the FDA collect ideas and preferences from industry stakeholders and technology providers for meeting the January 1, 2015 DSCSA requirement to exchange Transaction Information (TI), Transaction History (TH) and Transaction Statements (TS). The FDA must publish a draft guidance document on the same topic before November 27, 2014, so this workshop, plus the responses to the recent docket, will help them write that draft.
The workshop was held in a large room with eleven big tables, each with about 18 chairs around them. The FDA had Continue reading The 2014 FDA DSCSA Workshop
