There is a rare alignment of events that will happen in the first week of December that is so special that you need to put it on your calendar. There are two important pharma serialization events that will occur in the Washington DC area and anyone with a serious interest in that subject should attend both. These events line up perfectly to allow you to travel once, and spend four days that will solidify your understanding of the issues and opportunities embedded within the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in particular, and pharma serialization in general. Continue reading Sponsored: Don’t Miss These Back-To-Back Pharma Serialization and Tracing Events
Tag Archives: Pharma Supply Chain
DSCSA: The U.S. Pharma Supply Chain Must Organize, Or Risk Failure, Again
A couple of days before President Obama signed the DQSA legislation back in 2013 I published an RxTrace essay that looked at what was going to be necessary in the next year from the FDA and the industry (see “DQSA: The U.S. Pharma Supply Chain Must Organize, Or Risk Failure“). The initial standards necessary at that time were for data exchange, and the FDA had one year to come up with them. My essay was about the need for the industry to work with the FDA to come up with the standards that would work. The FDA didn’t have the expertise or the knowledge of how the supply chain operated and so I felt it was imperative for the industry to help them out.
Fast forward to today. Rather than data exchange standards, the FDA is facing Continue reading DSCSA: The U.S. Pharma Supply Chain Must Organize, Or Risk Failure, Again
FDA DSCSA Public Meeting #1 Exposes Gulf In Goals
The FDA held the first of three scheduled DSCSA public meetings last week. This one focused on:
- The vision for 2023; and,
- The enhanced drug distribution security (EDDS) needs related to tracing prescription drugs at the package level.
The meeting started off with short presentations by representatives from:
- Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)
- Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM)
- Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA)
- National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS)
- American Pharmacists Association (APhA)
In the short time they were each given, these speakers Continue reading FDA DSCSA Public Meeting #1 Exposes Gulf In Goals
DSCSA Verification and Suspect Product
Last week I wrote about the debate over the number of possible responses to verification requests in any potential solution the industry might adopt to meet the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) (see “DSCSA Red Light Green Light: Verification Responses”). Today I want to take a closer look at a related issue: the relationship between verification and suspect product. Most specifically, does a failed verification automatically force a product into the suspect product category? The answer might surprise you. Continue reading DSCSA Verification and Suspect Product
DSCSA Red Light Green Light: Verification Responses
There is an important debate going on over the last 9 months regarding exactly how many different answers companies should prepare to provide in response to a DSCSA verification request. Some say two: “Red light” or “Green light”. And others say three: “Yes”, “No”, or “It’s Complicated”. This might seem like a minor question, but people on each side are surprisingly passionate about their positions. Let me explain. Continue reading DSCSA Red Light Green Light: Verification Responses
DSCSA Serialization Delay Eclipses Grandfathering
On August 21st, large portions of the United States and other places will experience a total eclipse of the sun by the moon. On November 27th, the serialization and verification delay of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) contained within the FDA’s recent draft compliance policy (see “FDA Delays Enforcement of DSCSA November Deadline: What It Means”) will eclipse the grandfathering guidance that hasn’t even been published yet. In fact, the overdue grandfathering guidance should be easy for the FDA to write now (see “Who Is Being Harmed By Four Overdue FDA DSCSA Guidances?”). Grandfathering probably just won’t exist. Here’s why. Continue reading DSCSA Serialization Delay Eclipses Grandfathering
What Should FDA Pilot?
Last week the FDA announced it will coordinate one or more pilot(s) to assist in the development of the electronic, interoperable system that will identify and trace drugs in the U.S. under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in its Enhanced Drug Distribution Security (EDDS) phase starting in 2023. Once they start work on pilot planning, they will call for proposals from stakeholders and others. But they can’t start until they get permission from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and they won’t even ask OMB for permission until they collect comments on the proposed collection of information associated with establishing the pilot program. Believe it or not, that was the Continue reading What Should FDA Pilot?
DSCSA Cascading Delays
Last week I covered the likely impact of the recent draft compliance policy currently under a 60-day public comment period (see “DSCSA and RxTrace: The Song Remains The Same“). This week, I will take a look at its likely impact on downstream trading partners, including repackagers, wholesale distributors and dispensers.
Under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), these organizations have specific obligations to only engage in transactions with product that has the DSCSA-mandated product identifier (serial number) on it (see “The DSCSA Product Identifier On Drug Packages“). And when investigating suspect product or receiving saleable returns, they must Continue reading DSCSA Cascading Delays