Tag Archives: GTIN

Mixed Signals From Russia

January 21, 2019 Dirk A. Rodgers Leave a comment

I’m not talking about the mixed signals from Russia in your daily political newsfeed, I’m talking about the mixed signals we see between the Russian Federation decrees for their pharma serialization and traceability mandate, and the announcements of the government’s designated technology contractor to develop that system: CRPT, LLC. Considering how short the deadlines are, these mixed signals are counterproductive because they cause companies to pause while they figure out what they should do. Let me explain.

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EPCIS

EPCIS Explained

January 14, 2019 Dirk Rodgers Leave a comment

At a recent GS1 discussion group meeting one of the moderators acknowledged that they need to create a clear explanation for exactly what EPCIS is. I’ve never been very impressed with GS1’s ability to explain their own standards at a high-level for non-technical readers. They do a great job of explaining them at the minutia-level, but that’s the problem. Non-technical people who must make decisions about GS1 standards probably get bogged down in that minutia and end up not really understanding what it is, why it is significant, and why they should use it. Too much technical documentation exists on how to apply EPCIS, and not enough documentation on the why.

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GLN

GLN: The Lowly Identifier That Could Kill The Use Of EPCIS For Pharma Regulatory Compliance

April 18, 2016 Dirk Rodgers 1 Comment

iStock_000085320577_Smaller Almost everyone agrees that GS1’s Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standard will be used by drug manufacturers and the large wholesale distributors in the United States for compliance with the serialization requirement of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). Even I think that (see “Will EPCIS Event Exchange Replace EDI ASNs for DSCSA Someday?”). But there is a problem that could kill its use beyond the internal uses of today, keeping it from being used for data exchange or the data repositories that will eventually become the way data is “exchanged” in 2023 as part of the Enhanced Drug Distribution Security (EDDS) phase of the DSCSA.

The problem is, EPCIS defaults to the use of a single location identifier, the GS1 Global Location Number (GLN). So what? Why is that a problem? Let me explain. Continue reading GLN: The Lowly Identifier That Could Kill The Use Of EPCIS For Pharma Regulatory Compliance →

DSCSA, EUDR

Meeting U.S. and E.U. Drug Serialization Requirements With A Single Solution

February 15, 2016 Dirk Rodgers

As serialization mandates sweep the world you would think that drug manufacturers and repackagers would just deploy one generic “serialization application” and simply turn it on for any drugs that requires it, and turn it off for any that do not. That’s probably what the legislatures and regulators who create the requirements think. RxTrace readers know it’s not nearly that easy.

The problem is that every regulation requires something different. The only common thread is that there is always a “serial number” requirement in there somewhere (thus the name). But the serial number itself is usually defined differently and everything else that surrounds the serial number is often not the same. It’s not a matter of just turning it on and off, it’s a matter of changing a bunch of parameters, which result in significantly more complexity in the setup, testing and validation of the system for each market. Continue reading Meeting U.S. and E.U. Drug Serialization Requirements With A Single Solution →

GS1 General Specification

GS1 Publishes Version 16 Of Their General Specifications …And Why You Should Care

January 25, 2016 Dirk Rodgers

Medical device manufacturers have a choice of standards to use when identifying their products for the U.S. market. The FDA’s Unique Device Identification (UDI) rule allows them to select from any identification standards organization (referred to as a “number issuing” agency) that is accredited by the Agency for that purpose. So far, three organizations have been FDA-accredited: HIBCC, ICCBBA and GS1.

ICCBBA has a lock on the identification of Continue reading GS1 Publishes Version 16 Of Their General Specifications …And Why You Should Care →

EUDA

The ‘Unique Identifier’ in the EU Delegated Act

August 24, 2015 Dirk Rodgers 2 Comments

The European Commission published a discussion draft of the European Union Delegated Act (EUDA) about two weeks ago (See “Breaking News: The EC Has Published The Delegated Act“). The EUDA was called for in the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) back in 2011 and is primarily intended to define the “safety features” that must appear on most drugs three years after it is finalized. Assuming it gets finalized around the end of 2015, that means that manufacturers and repackagers targeting the European pharmaceutical market will need to begin placing the specified safety features on their drug packages near the end of 2018. EU Member States who already have an operational drug tracing law, like Italy and a few others, get an additional six years for companies to switch to the FMD and EUDA on drugs distributed there.