Tag Archives: product identifier

FDA Inaction On Fixing The NDC Indicates Why They Should Get Out Of The Numbering Business

It’s been eleven months since the FDA held their public hearing to collect ideas for fixing the National Drug Code (NDC) system (see “FDA Seeks Input On The Future Format of the National Drug Code” and “FDA New NDC Format Public Meeting”).  The FDA, themselves, estimated that they may have as little as 10 years before they run out of Labeler Codes, and that was over a year ago.  So now we have less than nine years?  My friends, it’s almost time to panic because the FDA seems to have dropped the ball after hearing from the industry that they would need at least ten years to prepare for any changes that the FDA may make (see “FDA New NDC Format Public Meeting”).

Continue reading FDA Inaction On Fixing The NDC Indicates Why They Should Get Out Of The Numbering Business

FDA New NDC Format Public Meeting

I attended the FDA’s New NDC Format Public Meeting last Monday where I presented my open letter that was last Monday’s RxTrace essay (see “An Open Letter To The FDA: New NDC Format Public Meeting”).  After a welcome from Dr. Janet Woodcock, Director, FDA, Center For Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and a brief overview of the purpose of the meeting by Paul Loebach of FDA CDER, there were nine presentations from stakeholders and the public.  After each presentation, the FDA panel Continue reading FDA New NDC Format Public Meeting

Drug Verification: EU Vs US

USvsEU flagsDrug 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