Top 2 pharma firms turn to RFID
to the adoption of radiofrequency identification (RFID) and
electronic product code (EPC) technologies in the battle against
counterfeit drugs.
GlaxoSmithKline has said that it will begin using RFID tags in the next 12 to18 months on at least one product deemed susceptible to counterfeiting in order to more effectively monitor its progress from the company to the patient.
Meanwhile, top pharma company Pfizer has announced a new initiative to use RFID tags to help authenticate all Viagra (sildenafil), its drug for erectile dysfunction, sold in the US. The company said it had started planning for the project and has set a goal to start shipping Viagra with RFID technology by the end of 2005.
RFID incorporates the use of small radio frequency tags on product packaging that can be electronically scanned to authenticate and track products through the distribution system, from manufacturing plant to retail pharmacy. The technology is difficult to replicate and, provided its is adopted on a broad scale - could help protect the pharmaceutical supply chain, and ultimately consumers, from fake medicines.
Viagra was selected for the project, said Pfizer, because it is one of the most counterfeited medicines in the US. The company will add passive RFID tags to cases and retail packages of Viagra at an estimated initial cost of several million dollars, but it does not expect to achieve any cost savings at this point.
"To us, this is strictly a patient safety issue," said Tom McPhillips, vice president of the US Trade Group. "Drug counterfeiting is a serious and growing problem and RFID offers the potential to be an important anti-counterfeiting technology in the future."
However, he stressed it is certainly not the only solution: changes to state regulations, more stringent licensing of pharmaceutical wholesalers, modifications of business practices, and increased enforcement also are very important.
The US authorities showed their teeth earlier this month when a federal court sentenced a man to a 21-month prison term, probation, and monetary penalties for his role in a scheme to accept kickbacks for buying counterfeit and diverted prescription drugs and to repack these drugs for sale. The FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations conducted the investigation.
Meanwhile, GSK said that the priority candidates for the tags are its HIV drugs Retrovir (zidovudine), Combivir (zidovudne and lamivudine), Epivir (lamivudine), Trizivir (zidovudine, lamivudine and abacavir) and Ziagen (abacavir), as well as Zofran (ondansetron), a drug used to the nausea caused by cytotoxic cancer drugs.
The company has already implemented RFID tags on some consumer healthcare products and within its research laboratories. For example, in its Consumer Healthcare division, GSK tags all pallets shipped to a central distribution centre for Metro, a German retailer, and plans to tag pallet and cases to Wal-Mart's Texas distribution centers by late January.
