A “product grouping” is any collection of saleable units of products that are bound together in some way. They can be “bundles”, homogeneous or non-homogeneous cases, totes, pallets or something like these. The pharma serialization regulations in some markets call out some of these groupings for special treatment, and some do not. I’ll try to catalog what we know about product groupings in each of the current, known regulations. Continue reading Serializing Product Groupings Under Global Regulations
Tag Archives: Pharma serialization
First Meeting of the HDA Verification Router Service Task Force
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
As someone who often attempts to explain truth and reality through writing, I can really appreciate the writing skill of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (see “Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.”). I’ve learned that the best writing has to come from your heart just as much as it does from your head, but I still make mistakes that I don’t expect to see in Dr. King’s writing. Last week is an example. By attending the Healthcare Distribution Alliance’s (HDA’s) Verification Router Services (VRS) Task Force meeting in Crystal City, Virginia, I learned more about HDA’s intentions for the design of the VRS. Continue reading First Meeting of the HDA Verification Router Service Task Force
Brazil Gets Rational With Their New Pharma Traceability Law
Last week, Brazil President Michel Temer signed law number 13,410, which amends law number 11,903 from 2009, their original pharma serialization and tracing law. The effect of the new law on the old can be seen here. The problem for me is that I don’t read Portuguese, so I must rely on Google Translate to translate these texts. This results in an unofficial translation that has a few imperfections that are obvious, even to non-Portuguese readers, but it appears to be not bad. Continue reading Brazil Gets Rational With Their New Pharma Traceability Law
Could Blockchain Technology Be Used For DSCSA Compliance?
If your email inbox is anything like mine it has recently been swamped with articles and webinar notices about the possible use of blockchain technology to solve multiple challenges in healthcare. I recently attended a very interesting day-long workshop on that very topic.
So is blockchain a real solution, or is it just the latest over-hyped buzzword that is being promoted by people who don’t understand the real needs of healthcare companies? I’ll tell you what I think. But first, a little background.
Blockchain technology is a way of encapsulating information within a layer of structured data that multiple parties can use as the basis for trust in the accuracy of the source of that information. It’s all about adding trust to information that is shared between parties. Trust is just one of the many Continue reading Could Blockchain Technology Be Used For DSCSA Compliance?
Drug Samples Under Global Serialization and Tracing Regulations
Some pharma manufacturers make special packages of certain drugs that they give away to certain medical practitioners as a way of promoting the product and introducing the practitioner and their patients to it. The method of distribution is usually through field sales people employed directly by the drug manufacturer, and the drug samples are delivered by them directly to the practitioner.
What could go wrong with that? Probably diversion of the product contained within the “free sample” packaging back into the supply chain, but without the “free sample” indicator on the package. Should these special packages be tracked? Should they be serialized? Continue reading Drug Samples Under Global Serialization and Tracing Regulations
FDA Posts DSCSA-Specific Information Sharing Agreement Template For State Agencies
While I was preparing a DSCSA resource list to be handed out at the Systech Uniquity event in Mumbai next week I stumbled across a document that the FDA recently posted on their website. It is a template for a DSCSA-specific information sharing agreement that is aimed at state agencies, like state boards of pharmacy and probably state’s attorneys’ offices and state bureaus of investigation, etc. The DSCSA contains several clauses that imply data sharing between the FDA and “…appropriate Federal or State official[s]”.
The problem is, the data that would likely need to be shared Continue reading FDA Posts DSCSA-Specific Information Sharing Agreement Template For State Agencies
FDA To Hold DSCSA Public Meeting
The FDA is almost 10 months behind in the release of guidance documents for the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) as scheduled by Congress (see “FDA DSCSA Deadline Passes Quietly”, “Who Is Being Harmed By Four Overdue FDA DSCSA Guidances?”, “FDA Speaks At GS1 Connect”, and “FDA Plans Busy Second Half of 2016 With Six DSCSA Draft Guidances Expected”). So far this year the FDA has held one public meeting to collect public and stakeholder input on the pilot that the law mandates (see “FDA To Hold DSCSA Pilots Workshop”, and “The 2016 FDA Pilots Workshop”). The DSCSA requires the FDA to hold at least five public meetings “…to enhance the safety and security of the pharmaceutical distribution supply chain and provide for comment.”
This morning, the FDA announced Continue reading FDA To Hold DSCSA Public Meeting
Proposed Pharma Serialization Regulation Progresses in Brazil
The government of Brazil is trying to recover from the poor design of their first attempt at a pharma serialization and tracing regulation, RDC-54/2013. That first regulation was at least partially suspended (see “Brazil Suspends Pharma Serialization And Tracing Requirements” and “The Official Suspension of the Three-Lot Pilot in Brazil”). Everyone seems to be operating under the assumption that the entire RDC-54-2013 will be replaced with a new regulation. Legislation to do exactly that has been slowly churning its way through the Legislature for the last 9 months. Word came last week that Continue reading Proposed Pharma Serialization Regulation Progresses in Brazil
