This is a “sponsored” essay, which simply means it is free to everyone and does not count against their one free essay per month for those who are not full subscribers. The reason for that is to maximize the number of people who have the opportunity to tell the FDA how they are progressing toward the DSCSA serialization deadline, and do so anonymously. Continue reading Sponsored: Tell The FDA About Your Progress Toward The DSCSA Serialization Deadline, Anonymously
Tag Archives: RxTrace U.S. Pharma Traceability Survey
Progress Toward Serialization!?
Last week I announced the availability of the 2015 RxTrace U.S. Pharma Traceability Survey Results that are sponsored by Frequentz. You should download a free copy of the report here. This week I want to look at another interesting finding taken directly from the report. It shows that progress is being made by drug manufacturers, repackagers and CMO/CPOs toward meeting the 2017 (2018 for repackagers) deadline for adding serial numbers to the drug packages they produce for the U.S. market. That requirement comes from the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) enacted in November of 2013.
One of the many questions we asked Continue reading Progress Toward Serialization!?
2015 RxTrace U.S. Pharma Traceability Survey Results, Sponsored by Frequentz Now Available!
I am proud to announce the free availability of the 2015 RxTrace U.S. Pharma Traceability Survey Results, sponsored by Frequentz. You can download the new free report here.
This year’s results were very interesting because most of the responses came in during the critical time just before the 2015 DSCSA requirements were to go into effect. The questions asked were designed to elicit opinions on a wide range of topics, including the respondent company’s ability to meet the regulations on time, their technology choices and practices. This year Continue reading 2015 RxTrace U.S. Pharma Traceability Survey Results, Sponsored by Frequentz Now Available!
When Will The DSCSA Ever Require Investments In Aggregation?
I have been outspoken on the question of whether or not the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) requires companies in the supply chain to provide their customers with serial number-based aggregation data prior to 2023. In my view, it does not, but others disagree, saying that there are requirements in the law that lead to the need for aggregation data during that time. I do not agree with that either. If you would like to review those arguments and find out exactly what “aggregation data” is, here is a list of RxTrace essays you should read:
| Date Published | Title/link |
| March 26th, 2012 | Pharma Aggregation: How Companies Are Achieving Perfection Today |
| November 22nd, 2013 | DQSA: Will U.S. Pharma Distributors Mandate Aggregation Data In Phase 1? |
| February 10th, 2014 | Does The DQSA Require Manufacturers To Provide Aggregation Data? Survey Says… |
| June 9th, 2014 | The Aggregation Hoax and PIA |
BUT WHAT ABOUT AFTER 2023?
The DSCSA requires the FDA to conduct at least 5 topical public meetings between now and Continue reading When Will The DSCSA Ever Require Investments In Aggregation?
What will happen next? The 2015 RxTrace U.S. Pharma Traceability Survey, Sponsored by Frequentz
For the second year in a row RxTrace is partnering with Frequentz to conduct a survey about U.S. Pharma Traceability. This year the survey has been improved with separate sets of questions for each segment of the supply chain and also for companies who are not actual supply chain members. The survey asks questions about the readiness of companies for the 2015 requirements of the DSCSA as well as preparations for the 2017 serialization requirements. A few of the questions are the same as last year so we can track any change in thinking.
Click here to take the 2015 survey.
The answers you provide Continue reading What will happen next? The 2015 RxTrace U.S. Pharma Traceability Survey, Sponsored by Frequentz
DQSA: How Should Transaction Data Be Exchanged?
The U.S. FDA just published a docket asking for public input into standards for the interoperable exchange of information for tracing of human, finished, prescription drugs in paper or electronic format. Ironically, they will accept responses to the docket in either paper or electronic format. Comments should be submitted to the FDA within 60 days. If my calculation is correct, you have until April 21st to submit your comments.
This docket was expected because the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), enacted last November, gives the FDA one year to publish a draft guidance document that establishes standards for the interoperable exchange of that type of information, and they are required to consult with the industry and other interested parties [see Section 582(a)(2)]. I have written about this requirement and the short time after the guidance is published before the members of the supply chain must make use of those standards (see “The Flaw That Must Be Addressed in H.R. 3204, The Drug Quality and Security Act” and “DQSA: Getting To Electronic Transaction Data Exchange“). This docket fulfills the first of many mandates that the FDA is facing in
Continue reading DQSA: How Should Transaction Data Be Exchanged?
Does The DQSA Require Manufacturers To Provide Aggregation Data? Survey Says…
One of the most intense questions about any serialization mandate is whether or not manufacturers would be required to pass “aggregation data” to their customers. “Aggregation data” is the serial number-based packaging hierarchy of the shipment. That is, a list of the package-level serial numbers that are contained in each serialized bundle, and then which bundles are contained within which serialized cases and then which cases are contained on which serialized pallet, etc.
You can’t expect to give a couple of workers a handheld barcode reader and expect them to produce six sigma aggregation data. It is possible to collected highly accurate aggregation data (see “Pharma Aggregation: How Companies Are Achieving Perfection Today”), but it requires systems specifically designed to do so. The now obsolete California pedigree law did not Continue reading Does The DQSA Require Manufacturers To Provide Aggregation Data? Survey Says…
DQSA: Did The Authors Get The Timeline Right?
In the last update by the California Legislature, the timeline for the rollout of the California pedigree law was spread out so that it was to take 2 ½ years from the first manufacturer deadline for serialization of 50% of their product until everything was serialized, pedigreed and wholesalers and pharmacies were making use of the serial numbers and pedigrees. Of course, everyone should be aware by now that the U.S. Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) preempted that law and all State and Federal pharma serialization and pedigree laws, and replaced them with new Federal requirements that have a different rollout timeline.
The track and trace provisions of the DQSA are defined within Title II of that act, known as the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). Some of its provisions begin next January. Some start in November of 2017 and some start in 2023. Continue reading DQSA: Did The Authors Get The Timeline Right?
