John Jenkins JJ Associates Tel: +44 (0) 118 903 4073 Email: [email protected] World’s first drug traceability pilot across global supply chain BRIDGE pilot demonstrates technology is available today to combat counterfeit drugs and improve patient safety in healthcare London, 9th February 2009 – As part of the BRIDGE (Building Radio frequency
IDentification solutions for the Global Environment) project, the healthcare sector has
demonstrated a complete track and trace system for pharmaceutical products in a live
operating, international supply chain environment through its successfully completed
The pilot was part funded by the EU and conducted by a team of Technology Providers.
The pilot tracked 15 different types of drugs through their supply chain journey, from
drug manufacturing/packaging plants in Ireland and the Netherlands, to their final
destination, the pharmacy department at Barts and The London NHS Trust, using mass
serialisation techniques based upon a hybrid mix of 2-D bar codes and EPC RFID tags.
Supply chain wide traceability was enabled through multiple use of EPCglobal’s EPCIS
capturing information identified by the GS1 System of standards. The mass serialisation
solution meets all current worldwide pharma regulations on authentication and track and
trace and also addresses the current lack of supply chain visibility of goods shipments
With the increasing risk of counterfeit drugs entering the healthcare system, seen in the
recent criminal investigation into fake Zyprexa for schizophrenia treatment produced in
China and sold into the NHS in the UK, it is essential that technologies which can track
drugs and monitor their progress through the entire supply chain are implemented as
soon as possible. Delivering correct, authentic drugs to patients quickly and accurately
can help reduce medical errors and improve patient safety.
Implementing traceability systems that support swift and effective product recalls can
prevent patients from being exposed to sub-standard or dangerous counterfeit drugs.
Fourteen major recalls of fake medicines have been ordered by the Medicines and
Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the last three years compared to one
Data carriers, including GS1 bar codes (data matrix) and EPC/RFID tags, were used in
the pilot to enable the full traceability of every single drug product in the supply chain on
all levels of packaging and to monitor the progress of its transportation lorries. The
implementation of a 4 string data set which included the product code, serial number,
expiry date and batch number enabling mass serialisation of packaging items, together
with the EPCIS system, delivered the necessary traceability information which was
recorded in and out of each supply chain participants’ custody. All data stored in the
EPCIS system provided real time visibility of the tracked products - such as where the
product was, which company had it and how long had they had it for, as well as historical
“With the ability to fully track and trace the drugs that we order from our suppliers, we
can feel confident that the medication we administer to our patients is safe and
authentic. The added benefits of capturing and recording drug expiry dates and batch
numbers can also help increase the hospital’s efficiency, enabling improved inventory
management and quicker response times to product recalls,” commented Patrick Martin,
Senior Principal Pharmacist at Barts and The London NHS Trust.
“The success of the pilot demonstrates that the technology required to implement a full
international supply chain traceability system is available today. There is no doubt that
traceability systems such as that demonstrated by this pilot will in the future have a
significant positive impact on the security and safety of the pharmaceutical supply chain.
The experience gained by this project will be invaluable when helping our clients to
exploit these opportunities” commented John Jenkins, Managing Director, JJ Associates
More information about BRIDGE and the Pharma Traceability Pilot can be found at
www.bridge-project.eu and at the pilot’s information dissemination website,
Notes to editor: BRIDGE Pharma Traceability pilot participants included:
Drug companies: Actavis, Sandoz and Athone Laboratories Distributors: Kent Pharmaceuticals Contract packer: Tjoapack Transport/Logistics services providers: Movianto UK and CPG Logistics Wholesaler: UniChem NHS Hospital: Barts and The London NHS Trust The Solution Providers who implemented the pilot:
Equipment and printing solution vendor: Domino Printing Sciences Technical design and software developers: Melior Solutions EPCIS services provider: VeriSign Inc. Project management, business consultancy and marketing: JJ Associates Consultancy of standards and RFID: GS1 UK Profiles of each of the above can be accessed via www.bridgewp6.eu About BRIDGE The Building Radio frequency IDentification solutions for the Global Environment (BRIDGE) project is being supported by the European Union’s Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP6) with €7.5 million funding. It is a three year initiative dedicated to research, development, training and demonstration in the effective use of RFID based on EPCglobal standards. The BRIDGE project focuses on business-based research, provision of information services and hardware (sensors, tags) and software development. This will lead to pilots, deployment and comprehensive training materials in the use of RFID in a variety of business sectors. www.bridge-project.eu About EPCIS (EPC Information Services) EPCIS is a standard used to track the progress of objects as they move through the supply chain. The data shared at each read point in the supply chain provides WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY of each read. EPCIS provides the Information Services necessary for the storage, communication and dissemination of EPC data. It provides standards event capture and query interfaces for obtaining and sharing data about unique objects in the supply chain within and across organisations. The Pilot Information Dissemination Website – www.bridgewp6.eu
This contains a variety of information about the pilot which is all freely accessible:- Video clips – a short and long version, in downloadable form. White Papers – Business and Technical Case study Article Powerpoint Presentation materials Images gathered during the pilot
Use of Complementary Therapies in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis Article by Louise Joel BHSc (comp med) Adv Dip Nat, Adv Dip Herb Med. 2009 Complementary therapies for rheumatoid arthritis include naturopathy, herbal medicine, psychological approaches and a number of other treatment modalities. Nutritional and dietary therapies are a well-researched area of management for rheumatoid a
Ester 1,1a-1r Il libro di Ester si presenta come un dramma. Suo intendimento è istruire ed edificare il lettore attraverso la narrazione di un evento riccamente amplificato. [Noi seguiremo il testo greco, come fa la traduzione recente del a CEI]Il dramma si svolge al a corte persiana (sec. V-IV a.C.). I personaggi sono: Mardocheo, un giudeo del a diaspora, che occupa un posto influente al a