Electronic Authentication Systems Should Focus on Drug-Dispensing Sites, PhRMA Says

The use of electronic technologies to authenticate prescription drugs should focus initially on the dispensing sites of medicines, according to a PhRMA proposal to secure the supply chain.

While the FDA has identified radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips on packaging as the most promising approach to deterring counterfeit drugs, PhRMA said implementing an RFID-based electronic pedigree system would likely be complex and not fully achievable for five or more years. Instead, PhRMA suggests a stepped approach to implementation.

"Focusing on the dispensing site permits electronic authentication systems to be implemented in a timely manner, benefiting patients in the earliest stages of development," PhRMA says in a white paper. "In later stages, electronic authentication could be expanded throughout the distribution system to cover all trading partners," it says of the proposed electronic pedigree system that would authenticate products along the supply chain.

Widely available bar-coding technology and mass-serialization of packaging units can help in the authentication process at the dispensing site, PhRMA added.

To view PhRMA's white paper, "Electronic Authentication of Pharmaceutical Packaging and the Assurance of Public Safety" go to http://www.phrma.org/publications/policy//admin/2005-05-13.1171.pdf (http://www.phrma.org/publications/policy//admin/2005-05-13.1171.pdf).