Tag Archives: repackager

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: Kit, Repack, Combo Product, or Just A ‘Collection’?…Again

iStock_000069076997_smallerI am writing this from Mumbai India where I am scheduled to speak at the Systech Uniquity Conference, but I will be home by the time you read this.  I just won’t have time to publish a new essay this week due to the incredibly long flights I need to get home.  So, here is a re-posting of a great essay from May 9, 2016.

 

DSCSA: Kit, Repack, Combo Product, or Just A ‘Collection’?

Medical convenience kits are exempt from the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA).  But be careful.  Continue reading DSCSA: Kit, Repack, Combo Product, or Just A ‘Collection’?…Again

DSCSA: Kit, Repack, Combo Product, or Just A ‘Collection’?

iStock_000069076997_smallerMedical convenience kits are exempt from the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA).  But be careful.  Just because you and your customers have called your product “a kit” for years doesn’t mean that Congress and the FDA call it that under the DSCSA.  In fact, many products that have historically been referred to as “medical convenience kits” will be treated under the DSCSA as a repackaged drug, a combination product, or worse, just a collection of device(s) and drug(s).  Let’s take a closer look. Continue reading DSCSA: Kit, Repack, Combo Product, or Just A ‘Collection’?

InBrief: ‘The Smallest Individual Saleable Unit’ In The DSCSA

Drawing from the GS1 Healthcare GTIN Allocation Rules document showing how to assign GTINs in multi-pack scenarios.  Click image to enlarge.
Drawing from the GS1 Healthcare GTIN Allocation Rules document showing how to assign GTINs in multi-pack scenarios. Click image to enlarge.

The U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) requires manufacturers and repackagers to place DSCSA-specific “product identifiers” on all drug packages and homogeneous cases by November 27, 2017 (2018 for repackagers).  These product identifiers must include a Standardized Numeric Identifier (SNI), which is composed of the drugs National Drug Code (NDC) and a unique serial number (for more on DSCSA “product identifiers”, see “The DSCSA Product Identifier On Drug Packages“, for more on the SNI, see “FDA Aligns with GS1 SGTIN For SNDC“, and for more on the NDC, see “Anatomy Of The National Drug Code“).

A common question is, what is the smallest level of packaging that must be serialized?.  The DSCSA text provides the answer. Continue reading InBrief: ‘The Smallest Individual Saleable Unit’ In The DSCSA

Who Is A DSCSA Repackager?

????????????????????????A while back I posted an essay called “Who Is A DSCSA Dispenser?”.  I don’t think many actual dispensers read it because about half of the dispensers I run into think the earliest they have to do anything is July of next year.  The other half don’t think there is anything in the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) about them at all.  Too bad.  Both are wrong.

Fortunately I think repackagers know better.  At least they should, because the DSCSA contains a lot of specific requirements for them.  Repackagers have most of the same requirements that manufacturers do, plus they have many of the wholesale distributor requirements.  A double whammy.

Most people in the industry know what a repackager is.  Typically they are companies that buy drugs from a manufacturer or a wholesale distributor and then open the packages and put the drug into a new package type.  This can include putting the drug into a larger or smaller quantity package, or from bottles into blister cards or even unit dose packs for use in an automated picking machine.  It can also include companies who Continue reading Who Is A DSCSA Repackager?

The HDMA Supply Chain Product Transaction Scenarios For DSCSA

HDMA DSCSA ScenariosBack in the middle of the summer the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA), the industry association for the primary healthcare distributors in the United States, published on their website a very valuable resource for companies that must meet the U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) beginning in January.  This new resource is tucked away in the HDMA’s “Issues in Distribution”, “Pharmaceutical Traceability” page under the “Technical/Standards” heading [look for “Supply Chain Product Transaction Scenarios: Drug Supply Chain Security Act Implementation (2014)”].  It is free for anyone to download and I highly recommend that you do.  (And while you’re at it, check out some of the other resources available on that page.)

HDMA has been a leader in developing high quality guidance documents that aim to help Continue reading The HDMA Supply Chain Product Transaction Scenarios For DSCSA

The Aggregation Hoax and PIA

????????Pharmaceutical manufacturers should be aware that there is a lot of uninformed misinformation going around out there lately about the need for them to supply aggregation data to their trading partners to meet the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) (for more on aggregation, see “Pharma Aggregation: How Companies Are Achieving Perfection Today”, “DQSA: Will U.S. Pharma Distributors Mandate Aggregation Data In Phase 1?”, and “Does The DQSA Require Manufacturers To Provide Aggregation Data? Survey Says…”).  In my view, prior to 2023 you can collect aggregation data if you want to, but don’t let anyone tell you that the DSCSA requires you to.  It doesn’t.  And I also encourage you to be skeptical of any claims that wholesale distributors will not accept your product anytime soon unless you provide them with aggregation data.  Feel free to Continue reading The Aggregation Hoax and PIA

Working With CMOs Under California ePedigree

CMO ZoomImportant Notice To Readers of This Essay On November 27, 2013, President Barack Obama signed the Drug Quality and Security Act of 2013 into law. That act has many provisions, but one is to pre-empt all existing and future state serialization and pedigree laws like those that previously existed in California and Florida. Some or all of the information contained in this essay is about some aspect of one or more of those state laws and so that information is now obsolete. It is left here only for historical purposes for those wishing to understand those old laws and the industry’s response to them.So far in RxTrace I have explored the possible implications of the California pedigree law on drug repackagers, 3PLs, VMI relationships and, of course wholesale distributors.  Now let’s take a closer look at the murky world of the contract manufacturing organization (CMO).  I call this world “murky” only because you have to look very carefully at the relationship between a CMO and the contracting manufacturer to fully understand how the pedigree law might be applied.  And even then you are going to have to check with the California Board of Pharmacy because the law is so confusing in this area. Continue reading Working With CMOs Under California ePedigree