RFID Medicine Clinical Trial Passes Data through Phone

RFID enabled telemonitoring will support the clinical trial of Novartis drug in the treatment of leukemia. The drug monitoring process is called eMedonline. ...

... "Medication data read from a RFID smartlabel on the medication package is collected wirelessly by the phone in real time and helps verify that patients are taking the right drug at the right time while monitoring patient reported outcomes. Data from the phone is sent wirelessly to a secure server ... " ...

Via DOTmed: Telemonitoring

Korea RFID will drive pharmaceutical supply chain efficiency

Korean government will leverage RFID technology on pharmaceuticals to improve inventory management and reduce defects in drug prescriptions. ...

... "Government officials suggest that the radio frequency identification (RFID) tags will improve efficiency in distribution, allowing pharmaceutical companies to save around 1.8 trillion won (about $1.6 billion) annually, and also providing an easier way to retrieve subpar quality drugs. " ...

Via Korea Times: Korea RFID for Drugs

RFID Fingerprint

Tech advancement could prove to prevent cloning of RFID tags and serve as more secure drug tracking in the pharmaceutical industry. ...

... "The technique relies on the understanding that individual RFID tags are unique, not because of the data or memory they contain, but because of radio-frequency and manufacturing differences. " ...

Via Securing Pharma: RFID tags

Xerox Printable RFID Silver Bullet

Xerox develops a new silver ink that the company will commercialize for low-cost manufacturing of printable electronics. ...

... "Printable electronics offers manufacturers a very low-cost way to add intelligence or computing power to a wide range of surfaces such as plastic or fabric. This development will aid the commercialization of new applications such as smart pill boxes that track how much medication a patient has taken or display screens that roll up to fit into a briefcase. " ...

Via Xerox: Replace Silicon Circuits with Low-Cost, Durable Plastic

RFID Drug Traceability Pilot

A pharma track and trace RFID system is successfully piloted in a live operating, global supply chain. ...

... "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 is, which company has it now and how long have they got it for, as well as historical data. " ...

Via GS1 UK: First drug traceability pilot

SAP AutoID RFID Integration

Cephalon, Inc. will implement OATSystems RFID solution to enable serialized shipment container tracking using SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure for RFID integration into business processes and operational workflows. ...

... "Cephalon, an international biopharmaceutical company, has been testing RFID technology for the past three years to improve supply chain efficiency and visibility. RFID serialized container tracking will support efforts to combat counterfeiting as well as improve process execution. OAT's RFID solution was integrated with SAP Solution for RFID to enable serialized shipping container tracking and to set the foundation for tracking drug pedigrees. Cephalon has architected SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure as an extension of its core ERP processes for serialized product and containers to enrich standard processes around deliveries, advanced shipping notices (ASNs), pick/pack/ship and handling. This new project extends this architecture further and leverages the combined OAT and SAP solution to enable distribution center-based processes and workflows to track serialized shipping containers. OAT commissions and associates the RFID tags with specific containers and records the containers' contents and attributes; SAP solutions provide process oversight, number range management and OAT provides operational workflow management. After processing, OAT reports back the shipping container’s EPC number and the details of its contents, enabling SAP business processes such as pharmaceutical advance shipping notices (RxASN) to be carried out automatically. " ...

Via OATSystems: RFID Solution Integrated With SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure Platform

RFID Contrast Delivery Shares Data

Covidien RFID-enabled syringe improves patient safety and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. ...

... "Covidien's contrast delivery system combines its unit-dose Ultraject prefilled contrast media syringes with its Optivantage DH power injectors to provide the only RFID-enabled contrast delivery solution available in North America. RFID is an automatic identification technology that captures, stores and transmits data between the Ultraject syringe and the Optivantage DH power injector using devices called RFID transponders, or tags.

With RFID technology, the system creates an intelligent interface between the contrast media syringe and the power injector that enables radiology technologists to better ensure that each patient receives the prescribed drug and drug dose during a procedure. " ...

Via Covidien: Contrast Delivery System with RFID Approved by FDA

RFID Drug Serialization for California

IBM and TAGSYS to deliver RFID technologies for item level serialization in pharmaceutical manufacturer packaging operations. ...

... "Serialization is the first step towards compliance with California's drug pedigree regulations and the basis for improved supply chain performance. As of January 1, 2009, all prescription drugs being sold in the State of California must bear a unique identifier that can be used to track products throughout the supply chain, making it easier to identify counterfeits and prevent them from reaching patients. The new IBM and TAGSYS offering provides the hardware, software, and services needed to validate the performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of RFID for this purpose. " ...

Via IBM: Serialization Pilot Kit for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers

IBM RFID ePedigree Drug Solution Track Supply Chain Movements

IBM has developed a solution that enables pharmaceutical companies to create an electronic certificate of authenticity, an electronic pedigree or ePedigree, for drugs that move through the supply chain, from manufacturers to distributors, pharmacies and hospitals. ...

... "The ePedigree feature is a key capability of the new version of IBM's WebSphere RFID Information Center (RFIDIC), a high performance data repository that allows clients to efficiently manage and securely share information with trading partners to authenticate pharmaceuticals. Unlike competing solutions, the IBM offering was designed to manage and aggregate product serial numbers to enable processes in manufacturing plants, distribution centers, pharmacies, and hospitals.

IBM's new ePedigree feature allows clients to comply with new and emerging regulations such as those that will take effect in California in 2009 using either RFID, 2D barcodes, or a combination of barcodes and RFID. The offering provides a flexible track and trace framework for generating ePedigrees through standards-based EPC Information Services. By establishing ePedigree via EPCIS events and queries, clients will also be able to easily access key data elements to solve other business needs such as chargeback resolution and expiration management. " ...

Via IBM: ePedigree System to Combat Drug Counterfeiting and Help Clients Comply With Regulations

RFID Smart Sponge

RFID-enabled SmartSponge System receives Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance. ...

... "The ClearCount SmartSponge System is a novel, RFID-based solution that was designed after extensive work with nurses and surgeons at leading healthcare institutions. The SmartSponge System uses Texas Instruments Inc.'s Tag-it HF-I portfolio of high-frequency products to automate the process of managing surgical sponges during surgery. The sponges are permanently affixed with passive RFID tags smaller than a dime. Steve Fleck, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer added: Unlike other technologies, ClearCount's RFID-based SmartSponge System allows users to simultaneously count and differentiate between types of sponges. Additionally, since RFID does not require a line-of-sight between the reader and tags, there is no need to physically separate sponges or orient the tags in any way to scan them. This minimizes the handling of soiled sponges by nursing staff. " ...

Via ClearCount Medical Solutions: RFID Surgical Sponge Counting System to prevent retention of surgical sponges (PDF)

California RFID Drug Pedigree

Cardinal Health will integrate radio frequency identification (RFID) technology by Fall 2007 in its Sacramento, Calif. pharmaceutical distribution center. ...

... "Cardinal Health operates dozens of pharmaceutical distribution centers nationwide. The company will start implementing RFID technology in its Sacramento, Calif. distribution center, as a means to receive and produce the electronic drug pedigrees needed to meet the requirements of the California legislation. " ...

Via Cardinal Health: Cardinal Health Announces Plan to Deploy RFID Technology in California

Pharma RFID System: BlueVector

BlueVector's RFID solution provides pharmaceutical industry with item-level track and trace, supply chain information accuracy, and integration with drug pedigree and authentication systems. ...

... "The system orchestrates two-way integration with software applications from SAP, Supplyscape, IBM, and others to provide real-time track and trace, authentication, and drug pedigree tracking system integration. In addition to populating these systems with properly filtered events from RFID readers and sensors, the Blue Vector system also retrieves data from these systems to automate the behavior of equipment and worker alerts. The Blue Vector system automatically distributes this downloaded data (which can include expected orders and the content of shipments) out to each individual point of automation - no matter where it is geographically located - where it is used to provide a degree of business awareness that isn't possible with other RFID systems. By knowing what is supposed to happen at a given operational step, the system can instantly alert workers or send signals to product handling equipment to prevent the movement of non-conforming product. " ...

Via Blue Vector: RFID Platform for Pharmaceutical Industry

LIME RFID Tag Secure Encryption of Item-Level Data

SecureRF Corp introduces the LIME RFID-Tag, which is a battery-assisted passive tag with security technology that authenticates and encrypts data communications on the tag. It can be used at the item-level that only allows authorized readers to access the sensitive information on the tag. The company will begin deployment of the LIME tag in the pharmaceutical industry supply chain. The RFID tag will support authentication and data protection to address drug counterfeiting through cryptographic methods that translate into an electronic seal. ...

... "The company's strong LIghtweight Multistream Encryption Tag (LIME Tag) is based on SecureRF and industry standard security protocols. SecureRF's solutions include integration technology that allows its tags to be used with most of today's Gen 2 compliant readers without the need for firmware upgrades. This will allow currently deployed systems to easily upgrade to a fully secured supply chain with little cost or change to their current network. Mike McGregor, formerly a lead RFID chip designer at Alien Technology Corp. and one of the industry's foremost RFID chip engineers, is in charge of creating the new LIME Tag. SecureRF's founders include three world-class mathematicians / cryptographers who developed the cryptographic algorithm. " ...

Via SecureRF: LIME Tag authenticates and encrypts data communications on the tag ...

RFID Medical Device Supply Management System Improved

Mobile Aspects, Inc., is shipping iRISupply 4.0, its next generation RFID-enabled medical device and supply management system. Mobile Aspects, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pa., is a healthcare technology supplier focused on providing an integrated suite of clinical resource management solutions to automate the management of supply, asset, drug and patient tracking through the One System of CARE solution. The RFID features of iRISupply are ...

... "Adjustable shelving. RFID-enabled shelving within the cabinet-based technology is now adjustable to provide flexibility for the ever-changing needs of medical device and supply storage.

Next generation of RFID tracking architecture. iRISupply 4.0 utilizes an innovative, patentpending three-dimensional reading capability to further enhance the tracking and management of medical devices and supplies. " ...

Via Mobile Aspects: Next Generation RFID Enabled Medical Device and Supply Management System

European Perspective on RFID Technology

European Union provides results of regional survey on RFID technology. ...

... "RFID – smart radio tags - are the keystone of the emerging Internet of Things that will connect objects and places. " ...

Via European Union: Radio Frequency IDentification RFID - The Internet of things - European Perspective



Survey reveals key findings, such as mixed views on the benefits of RFID, belief in a higher risk to privacy due to RFID, and a general lack of adequate information on RFID to support education of citizens. Europeans want to continue the dialogue on the privacy risks of RFID. ...

... "Overall, 60% of respondents feel that there is insufficient information available to make an informed analysis of RFID technologies. There is therefore considerable support for awareness and information campaigns. Views on whether RFID can improve the lives of Europeans are evenly split. The benefits mentioned include food safety (identification of allergens, more comprehensive information, easier product recalls), healthcare (prevention of drug misuse, authentication) or supply chain management (fewer stocks-out, better after sales service). Privacy, health and environmental risks are among the RFID concerns given." ...

RFID Drug Authentication eCustoms

IBM announces solution that provides ability to share and analyze real-time RFID sensor data to enable drug authentication and e-customs for clients in the pharmaceutical value chain. ...

... "The new technology, WebSphere RFID Information Center, is based on a recently completed EPCglobal standard called EPCIS, which provides a standard way to securely communicate the data created by sensors and RFID tags, and tie it to existing business information and trading partners. The growing trend of item-level tagging will create exponential growth in sensor data well beyond that generated from conventional barcode technology. This creates a need for a new way to manage this explosion of data in a manner that does not overwhelm a business and its supply chain partners. In addition to managing the massive amount of data RFID creates, two other barriers to widespread RFID adoption to date have been the lack of standards and data sharing capabilities. RFID Information Center solves all of these issues, clearing the way for wider-spread RFID adoption in various industries.

The IBM WebSphere RFID Information Center has already been successfully deployed for a number of early-adopter IBM clients across several industries, including consumer packaged goods company Unilever, the e-customs project ITAIDE in Europe, and Big Three pharmaceutical distributor AmerisourceBergen. " ...

Via IBM: IBM Enables Drug Authentication, E-Customs With Release of New RFID Technology ...

RFID Improves Stroke Treatment: Access Health Records

National Stroke Association endorses implantable RFID microchips as a treatment to enable access to the critical health records of stroke victims. A stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery or a blood vessel breaks, interrupting blood flow to an area of the brain. National Stroke Association is the leading national non-profit organization devoting all of its efforts and resources to stroke. VeriMed Patient Identification System is used to rapidly and accurately identify people who arrive in an emergency room and are unable to communicate. This RFID identification system uses the first human-implantable passive microchip, the implantable VeriChip. ...

... "The National Stroke Association (NSA) has recognized that implantable RFID microchip technology offers the ability to improve stroke treatment by providing medical professionals with immediate access to vital health information of stroke-afflicted patients. An excerpt from the letter, signed by James Baranski, CEO of the National Stroke Association, states: Personal Health Records, including implantable RFID microchips such as VeriMed, could play a critical role in assisting medical professionals in delivering appropriate stroke treatment promptly, leading to better patient outcomes. The VeriMed Patient Identification System which consists of a handheld radio frequency identification (RFID) scanner, an implantable RFID microchip and a secure patient database, is being used to help rapidly identify and provide access to important health information on participating patients who arrive at an emergency department unconscious, delirious or unable to communicate. This implantable RFID system is the only system of its type cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in people. " ...

Via VeriChip: National Stroke Association Views Implantable RFID Microchip such as VeriMed as a Potential Life-Saving Medical Device ...

RFID Pharma Fraud: Aegate RealTime Communication System

Item level drug traceability is enabled through RFID technology. Aegate solution automates tracking, authentication, and information visibility. ...

... "Aegate provides drug manufacturers, pharmacists and their patients with a real time communication system that operates at individual item level. Each pack of medicine is given a unique machine-readable identification number, known as unique serialisation. Using one of a number of technologies, including RFID, 1D or 2D barcodes, items are scanned as they are dispensed. The system allows the pharmacist to check expiry dates and recall information, and provide updated patient care advice. This ensures pharmacists receive product safety information more rapidly. Currently, communications are achieved by fax or post and can reach pharmacies after drugs have been dispensed. The system also allows the authentication of the origins of medicines, thereby protecting against stolen and fake drugs. Patient safety is an increasingly important issue and counterfeit drug sales are forecast to reach $75billion globally by 2010 if action is not taken. Aegate provides drug manufacturers, pharmacists and their patients with a real time communication system that operates at individual item level. Each pack of medicine is given a unique machine-readable identification number, known as unique serialisation. Using one of a number of technologies, including RFID, 1D or 2D barcodes, items are scanned as they are dispensed. The system allows the pharmacist to check expiry dates and recall information, and provide updated patient care advice. This ensures pharmacists receive product safety information more rapidly. Currently, communications are achieved by fax or post and can reach pharmacies after drugs have been dispensed. The system also allows the authentication of the origins of medicines, thereby protecting against stolen " ...

Via Qinetiq: QinetiQ awarded GBP 1.6m Aegate secure hosting contract ...

Healthcare RFID Industry Adoption ...

Conference will focus on adoption of RFID in the healthcare industry ...

... "The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and Healthcare Distribution Management Association are pleased to sponsor this comprehensive overview of RFID Operational and Implementation strategies for the pharmaceutical supply chain. Given the high degree of interest by regulatory agencies and the commitment of our industry to transmit pharmaceutical products across a safe and secure supply chain, this conference will focus solely on RFID and how it impacts the pharmaceutical supply chain ... " ...

NACDS 2006 RFID: RFID User Adoption Summit ...

RFID Middleware: Automate Integrate ...

Reltronics Technologies has made their system, SmartInstrument, a versatile middleware for automatic Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems, widely available in the marketplace. Reltronics strengths lie in automation and identification using remote RFID technology. The SmartInstrument middleware system plays a role in supporting interoperability and integration of multiple, potentially incompatible, solutions. ...

... "One of Reltronics Technologies' fortes is in creating and supporting RFID systems that assist in automating asset and inventory management, identifying drug pedigrees, etc. and which rely upon storage and remote retrieval of data using RFID hardware (Readers, Antennas, Tags or Transponders). Retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target have whole-heartedly accepted the RFID concepts to implement efficiencies in their workflow and to limit inventories in their warehouses and they have subsequently initiated mandates to their vendors to implement RFID technology in their supplies within set timelines. These mandates are allowing shorter timelines and the industry not only needs many new deployments but also sustain existing deployments. SmartInstrument is a step forward to facilitate transparency in the RFID systems deployment thereby bringing commonality between various RFID protocols and hardware technologies (reader, antenna, and transponders or RFID tags), irrespective of the technology being new or old.

For instance, SmartInstrument enables end-users to deploy new RFID systems while seamlessly supporting all existing RFID systems and eliminating the need for single- sourcing thereby achieving a better return of investment. It fills the need by interpreting any RFID system utilizing any reader (Active, Passive), working on any frequency (LF, HF, VHF, UHF), with any communication protocol (Ethernet, WiFi, RS-232, RS-485), any transponder (Active, Passive), and any standard (EPCGlobal, ISO, AIMGlobal) bringing the much needed commonality into the RFID infrastructure. Reltronics Technologies' focus on bringing interoperability and sustainability into the RFID technology environment is the result of industry satisfaction with the RFID initiative, to enable overcoming the customer perception of which RFID technology to deploy, to enable commonality between the various RFID protocols, to enable a more cost-effective RFID system deployment, and finally to allow the end-users to start small with one RFID system and expand at their own financial pace without having to worry about the RFID system being antiquated. " ...

Via Reltronics: A Novel Idea to Harmonize Automatic Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems ...

RFID Plastic Pallet Real-Time Tracking ...

Plastic pallet with RFID enables real-time tracking in the supply chain. ...

... "Under the agreement, Xterprise will use both its RFID Asset Management application—which is built on it's TraX Application Server (TAS)—and it's AnalytiX RFID business intelligence application for iGPS' plastic pallet pool. Xterprise will be responsible for RFID-centric software applications, RFID best practices and RFID infrastructure integration. Xterprise will supply iGPS with Electronic Product Code (EPC) passive RFID tags, using the recently released EPC Reusable Transport Item (RTI) standard tag data format. As part of this long-term relationship, Xterprise will work closely with iGPS' other industry-leading partners such as Ryder System, Inc.

The agreement will enable iGPS to respond to demand from industries such as beverages, consumer electronics, grocery/consumer packaged goods, home improvement/do-it-yourself, pharmaceutical, produce/meat and raw ingredients. The powerful advantages of iGPS' edge-rackable plastic pallets include their greater durability, consistent size, shape and quality, superior hygiene and traceability. iGPS is the only large-scale pallet supply service to provide RFID in every pallet to track shipments in real time, which reduces the logistical cost of shipping and allows companies to verify food and drug safety, as well as to address security issues. iGPS offers the ability to rent plastic pallets and avoid the ongoing expense of owning and maintaining wood pallets." ...

RFID Plastic Pallet Real-Time Tracking: Via Xterprise: iGPS ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH XTERPRISE INCORPORATED TO PROVIDE BUILT-IN RFID-TRACKING CAPABILITY FOR ALL-PLASTIC PALLET POOL ...

IBM RFID Pharma: Drug License Plate ...

IBM unveils RFID system that creates a digital license plate for drugs through the pharmaceutical supply chain. The system is comprised of software and services that leverage RFID technology to provide unique identification as the item and sku level. The identifier instantly connects the item to the proper pharmaceutical data. ...

... "The system makes it more difficult for counterfeit drugs to get to market, protecting consumers by helping ensure the drugs they receive match the prescription from their physician. With nearly 8 percent of the world's prescriptions proving counterfeit each year, the US Food and Drug Administration has cited RFID as the most promising technology to ensure that the medicine in the bottle is exactly what the doctor ordered. The global pharmaceutical supply chain is highly complicated. From the point of manufacture to the point of sale, drugs can change hands as many as ten times. IBM's software and services are designed to help manufacturers protect product from theft and fraud and avoid replacement costs for product recalls and tarnished brand value. The IBM RFID system for pharmaceutical track and trace uses blended RFID software and services to automatically capture and track the movement of drugs through the supply chain. RFID tags are embedded on products at the unit, case and pallet level and authenticate the product from manufacturer to wholesalers to hospitals and pharmacies. Each tag contains a unique identifier -- like a license plate -- that can be linked back to descriptive product information such as dosage and strength, lot number, manufacturer and expiration date. " ...

IBM RFID Pharma: Drug License Plate: Via IBM: IBM Taps RFID for Pharma Industry ...

RFID Drug Pedigree Accelerates ...

FDA accelerates the use of RFID technology to support the electronic pedigree for drugs. ...

... "Among other new measures, FDA will fully implement regulations related to the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987, which requires drug distributors to provide documentation of the chain of custody of drug products -- the so-called pedigree - throughout the distribution system. FDA had placed on hold certain regulatory provisions because of concerns raised at the time about the impact on small wholesalers. Most recently, in early 2004, FDA delayed the effective date of certain regulatory provisions regarding pedigrees to allow the industry time to adopt electronic technology for tracking drugs through the supply chain.

Based on information from drug supply stakeholders, the FDA had expected this technology to be in widespread use in the drug supply chain by 2007, but it now appears that these expectations will not be met. Further, FDA has not heard that the concerns raised in the past regarding the impact on small wholesalers remains, and in fact, FDA was encouraged by most drug stakeholders to allow the hold to expire. Doing so would also provide clarity in the drug supply chain regarding who is and is not required to pass a pedigree. Continuing the hold would perpetuate the current confusion and further allow opportunities for counterfeit and diversionary practices. FDA has, therefore, determined that it can no longer justify not implementing these regulations. Accordingly, the hold, which will expire in December, will not be continued.

A potential new measure to safeguard the drug supply is the use of electronic track and trace technology, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID), which creates an electronic pedigree (e-pedigree) for tracking the movement of the drug through the supply chain. The FDA had expected this technology to be in widespread use in the drug supply chain by 2007. In early 2004 FDA delayed the effective date of the regulatory provisions regarding pedigrees to allow the industry time to adopt this technology. However, it now appears that FDA's expectations for adoption of the technology by 2007 will not be met. FDA therefore has determined it can no longer justify delaying implementation of the pedigree regulations. " ...

RFID Drug Pedigree Accelerates: Via FDA: FDA Announces New Measures to Protect Americans from Counterfeit Drugs

RFID Drug Authenticity Pilot at Cardinal Health ...

Cardinal Health begins second wave of RFID testing that supports the safety of the drug supply. RFID technology will enable in-process authentication as drugs make their way through the extended supply chain. Cardinal will also look for ways to achieve operational efficiencies from the RFID-enabled supply chain information. The company is expecting to complete this wave of tests by the 4th Quarter of 2006. ...

... "Cardinal Health, Inc., the leading provider of products and services supporting the health-care industry, announced the next phase of the first end-to-end pilot program to test technology that could improve the safety and efficiency of the nation's drug supply. The pilot program will begin to tag medication with labels carrying unique data that can be captured and read to verify its authenticity at each step of the supply chain. Verifying the authenticity of pharmaceuticals along each step of the distribution path adds an additional layer of security to lessen the chance of counterfeit pharmaceuticals entering the supply chain. In addition, the data gathered could improve efficiency as logistics experts at Cardinal Health will be able to analyze the data to identify bottlenecks, read rates and other opportunities to improve efficiency in the supply chain.

In conducting the end-to-end pilot program, Cardinal Health will use new technology to place radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on the labels of brand-name and generic solid-dose prescription drugs at the company's Printed Components facility in Moorestown, N.J. Next, the company's facility in Philadelphia will encode the electronic product code (EPC) standard data at the unit, case and pallet levels during the packaging process. The products will be then shipped to a Cardinal Health distribution center in Findlay, Ohio, where the data will be read and authenticated as products are handled under normal operating conditions. Normal operating procedures will be enhanced with RFID hardware and software from Alien Technology Corporation and IBM along with project management support from VeriSign. From Findlay, the tagged product will be sent to a health-care provider to further test read rates and data flow using the same technology as the distribution center. The product dispensed to patients will not be in the RFID packaging. The company launched the pilot in February and expects to complete the test in the fall." ...

RFID Drug Authenticity Pilot at Cardinal: Via Cardinal Health: Cardinal Health Announces Next Phase Of RFID Pilot ...

RFID Hospital: Blood Tracking ...

IBM collaborates with Japan hospital to track blood samples using RFID technology. ...

... "At the Kyoto Medical Center, under the new project, RFID tags were attached to dummy samples of plasma derivatives (about 50 units) and successfully traced. Using these RFID tags, information on the distribution and use history of the products - from the pharmaceutical manufacturer via the wholesalers to the medical institutions through to use - can be shared (federated), and the basis for a tracking mechanism can be established. In the future, multiple users, beyond the boundaries of individual industries, can make use of this kind of historical information to provide a system for enabling safe medical care. IBM Japan has built a distributed information system for seamless operation of RFID tags, while protecting a variety of highly classified medical information, such as personal information. Moreover, from the point of view of privacy, it has become possible to provide access control technology, which strictly limits access to the database and displays only the information necessary for the business at hand in systems used by multiple businesses or departments. " ...

RFID Hospital: Blood Tracking: Via IBM: Japan's first RFID tag drug-shipment-to-in-hospital medication traceability successfully demonstrated ...

GSK RFID Pilot Trizivir ...

According to report, GSK pilots RFID with Trizivir drug. ...

... "After evaluating the packaging, packing lines and distribution networks of these drugs, GSK judged Trizivir to be the best candidate to assess RFID on. " ...

GSK RFID Pilot Trizivir: Via in-Pharma: GSK turns to RFID to protect its AIDS drug

RFID GlaxoSmithKline Technology Test ...

GlaxoSmithKline tests RFID technology on HIV drug to combat counterfeiting. ...

... "GlaxoSmithKline has begun distributing a medicine tagged with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology as part of a pilot project to help protect patient safety. The tags will be placed on all bottles of Trizivir (an HIV medicine) distributed in the United States. When scanned at close range, the tags will help verify that the medicine bottle contains authentic Trizivir. This specific medicine was selected for the project because it has been listed by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy as one of 32 drugs most susceptible to counterfeiting and diversion. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked the pharmaceutical industry to develop standards and pilot processes for RFID that may lead in the next few years to broad adoption and use of the technology. RFID uses a tiny silicon chip and antenna about the size of a postage stamp that is attached to each bottle of medicine. The chip stores a unique product code that reflects information about the drug's manufacturing and shipping history. The product code can be read by pharmaceutical wholesalers and pharmacists using a hand-held or stationary electronic device that is placed within 2-18 inches of the tag. The tag can be read by wholesalers when it is received from the manufacturer and when it is shipped to pharmacies, who would then record when they have received the medicine. This allows manufacturers to more precisely account for medicine as it moves through the distribution chain and to authenticate medicine at the point of dispensing. " ...

RFID GlaxoSmithKline Technology Test: Via GlaxoSmithKline: GlaxoSmithKline begins testing new technology ...

RFID Drug Authentication

Finnish company implements RFID for drug authentication ...

... "Finnish pharmaceuticals group Orion has begun shipping the first packages armed with Stora Enso's radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to six pharmacies in Finland and Estonia. The tags are used to electronically verify the authenticity of pharmaceuticals - a growing concern in the industry. " ...

RFID Drug Authentication: Finland's Stora Enso and Orion test RFID authentication of drugs ...

RFID Consumer Drug Assurance ...

Julian Morris explores the issue of counterfeit medicines ...

... "Ideally, consumers should be assured their drugs have not been interfered with. This could be done through the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or some other means. " ...

RFID Consumer Drug Assurance: Via The Heartland Institute: Patent Piracy and the Perils of (Low) Pricing - by Julian Morris ...

RFID Pharmacy IT Solutions ...

RFID Pharmacy IT Solutions showcased at Symposium by Eclipsys ...

... "Exclusive Sponsor of Pharmacy IT Symposium, Sunday, February 12, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina
In Sunday's HIMSS Pharmacy IT Symposium, exclusively sponsored by Eclipsys, attendees will learn how to maximize and develop their role during the emergence of RFID (radio frequency identification) technology. They will also discover other new technologies that continue to perfect the implementation of the EHR and reduce errors in the Pharmacy setting. Continuing education accreditation will be provided with the support of ASHP, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. This part of the program includes e-prescribing, data management, drug interactions, productivity enhancement and quality gains. " ...

RFID Pharmacy IT Solutions: Via Eclpisys: Eclipsys to Showcase Newest Release of Industry-Leading Sunrise Advanced Clinical and Financial Solutions at HIMSS 2006 ...

FDA RFID Anti-Counterfeit Drug Workshop ...

Upcoming FDA workshop on RFID anti-counterfeiting for drugs ...

... "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing a public workshop and vendor display on the use of electronic track and trace technology to combat counterfeit drugs. The purpose of the meeting is as follows: To identify incentives for widespread adoption of radio-frequency identification (RFID), as well as obstacles to the adoption of RFID across the U.S. drug supply chain and possible solutions to those obstacles; to solicit comment on the implementation of the pedigree requirements of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA) and the use of an electronic pedigree (e-pedigree); and to learn the state of technology development related to electronic track and trace and e-pedigree technology solutions. To address these issues, we are inviting interested individuals, organizations, and other stakeholders to present information to FDA's Counterfeit Drug Task Force. We are also inviting vendors of track and trace technologies and e-pedigree solutions relevant to the drug distribution system to display their products for the educational benefit of FDA and attendees. (For this meeting, we are only interested in displays from vendors of track and trace technology and e-pedigree solutions for the PDMA requirement, as opposed to covert or overt counterfeiting technologies, such as holograms or colorshifting inks.)

2 DATES AND TIMES: The public workshop and vendor display will be held on February 8 and 9, 2006, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. See section V of this document for information on how to register to attend, present at the workshop, or participate in the vendor display. If you would like to present at the workshop or participate in the vendor display, you must register by January 27, 2006. " ...

Via FDA: Anti-Counterfeit Drug Initiative Workshop and Vendor Display ...

Pfizer RFID Combats Counterfeit Drugs ...

Pfizer implements RFID tags to combat drug counterfeiting. ...

... "In its latest initiative to promote patient safety by combating pharmaceutical counterfeiting, Pfizer Inc has begun to ship its first product containing radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to its customers in the United States. RFID technology is being added to all Viagra (sildenafil citrate) sold in the U.S. to enable pharmacies and wholesalers to verify the unique electronic product code, or EPC, on Viagra packaging. Pfizer is the first pharmaceutical company to put in place a comprehensive program of this type focused on EPC authentication as a means of deterring counterfeiting. Viagra was selected for the RFID project because it has been a major target for counterfeiters. Pfizer has invested several million dollars to date in the technology, which discourages counterfeiting because it is both difficult and expensive to duplicate. RFID tags incorporate the EPC into each package, case and pallet of Viagra. Pharmacists and wholesalers use specially-designed electronic scanners that communicate the code over the internet to a secure Pfizer website. The company's application of RFID is not yet capable of tracking and tracing medicines through the distribution system. Track and trace requires that all parts of the supply chain invest in compatible technology and agree to capture and share information about product movement. Pfizer will continue to explore the uses of this technology—including track and trace—during the coming year. " ...

Pfizer RFID Combats Counterfeit Drugs: Via Pfizer: Pfizer Introduces Radio Frequency Identification Technology to Combat Counterfeiting, Protect Patient Health ...

RFID People Chipping ...

RFID chipping of people is not very far away. Consumer items, passports, drugs, and other objects will have RFID tags and could serve as a mechanism for tracking and tracing people. In the references below, there are many examples where people RFID chipping is beginning. Mark Long explores the benefits and privacy concerns of RFID technology as adoption increases to solve various problems in society. ...

... "Nevertheless, the chipping of Americans may not be as far away as some people think. For one thing, RFID tags are likely to play a pivotal role in securing the next generation of American identity documents, said Bob McCullough, an analyst at The Yankee Group. " ...

RFID People Chipping: Tracked by a Tiny Chip: The Promise and Peril of RFID - Via Tech Trends - NewsFactor Network

Additional resources on the chipping of people with RFID:

Feds approve human RFID implants | Via The Register: "The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a gimmick from Florida-based Applied Digital Solutions to chip people with RFID implants - previously confined to tracking animals - thereby making it easy to access their medical records, even when they cannot, or would rather not, cooperate."

EPIC RFID Privacy Page: "In comments to the Article 29 Working Group, an association of leading European privacy officials, EPIC has recommended strong safeguards for RFIDs and techniques to track the use of digital works. EPIC's Comments on RFID (pdf) recommend a prohibition on chipping people and warn that unencrypted RFID passports pose significant security risks. "

Japan: Schoolkids to be tagged with RFID chips - Hardware - News - Via ZDNet Asia: "The rights and wrongs of RFID-chipping human beings have been debated since the tracking tags reached the technological mainstream. Now, school authorities in the Japanese city of Osaka have decided the benefits outweigh the disadvantages and will now be chipping children in one primary school. "

RFID Emergency Card: Enables Electronic Health Record ...

MedicAlert will show its RFID-enabled smart-card for enabling emergency medical care through the use of identification and electronic health records. ...

... "MedicAlert will be showcasing technology products - the MedicAlert® E-HealthKEY, the Health Enhancement System (HES), and the RFID Emergency Card in response to the federal government’s goal to give all Americans electronic medical records in the coming years. Within a few years, one-third of all Americans will be elderly – about 77 million people – the single biggest demographic group in the country. Globally, the U.S. will have the largest population of elderly people in the history of the world. " ...

RFID Emergency Card: Enables Electronic Health Record: Via MedicAlert: MedicAlert® to showcase technology at the White House Conference on Aging ...

MedicAlert® is committed to providing technology-based solutions and is an active member and a leader in developing interoperability standards with all the major Healthcare IT standards organizations. The MedicAlert® repository uses Web service interfaces to support standard Electronic Health Records (EHRs), including electronic drug prescriptions and for patient record interoperability. These activities will ensure the rapid development and deployment of standards to improve the quality of care, lower healthcare costs while increasing patient safety. MedicAlert® is a nonprofit membership organization founded in 1956 with a mission to protect and save lives, is headquartered in the United States and has international affiliates in nine countries.

Additional resources on uses of RFID to support emergency health care or electronic health care identification:

Health Care CIO Runs Internal RFID Test - Computerworld: "Halamka said this month that when the chip is scanned by an RFID reader, an identifying number directs physicians to his medical records, which are stored electronically at CareGroup's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "

VeriChip launches secure database to consult health care data stored on implantable RFID chips: "VeriChip is a miniaturised, implantable, radio frequency identification device (RFID) which can be used in a variety of security, emergency, and health care applications. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip is composed of FDA-accepted materials and contains a unique verification number which can seamlessly integrate to the GVS Registry."

RFID can be a matter of life and death in the medical world | WTN: "Radio frequency identification technology is often touted as a way to improve supply chain management. But in the health care world, the technology is bringing other, perhaps more important benefits: safety and security."

Pharma RFID Dispensing Authentication ...

Aegate is commercializing RFID-enabled authentication solutions for the pharmaceutical industry, which focuses on controls at the point of drug dispensing. ...

Pharma RFID Dispensing Authentication: Via Aegate: Aegate Moves Forward into Commercialisation Phase and Appoints Gary Noon as CEO ...

... "Aegate, a wholly owned subsidiary and specialist venture company for PA Consulting Group, has developed a commercially viable solution to combat one of the pharmaceutical industry's biggest and growing patient safety issues -- the trade in counterfeit and fake drugs. Authentication at the point of dispensing enables investment in mass serialisation security technologies such as bar code and RFID to be effectively leveraged as a brand protection mechanism. Sales of counterfeit prescription medicines are forecast to reach $75 billion by the end of the decade, nearly doubling current levels and outgrowing the annual growth rate of legitimate pharmaceutical sales. Following the outstanding success of Aegate's pilot programme in the UK, the company is now in the planning phase for commercial launch and roll-out in the USA, UK and Belgium during 2006. " ...

RFID in Innovation Strategy

Innovative uses of RFID are still in the future. Lucy Sherriff explores the multi-generational Science and Innovation Strategy developed through Home Office Minister Andy Burnham. ...

RFID in Innovation Strategy: Via The Register: Home Office plans for science to tackle terror ...

... "His wish list includes RFID tracking, new scanning technologies, the development of a so-called drugalyser for roadside drug testing and a wider use of biometric identifiers. " ...

Pharma Industry RFID Opportunity ...

Via Line56.com: Pharma RFID Opportunity ...

... "The FDA has been active in promoting RFID and other forms of Auto-ID, the State of Florida will be a passing a new drug pedigree law in June 2006 to secure and verify the chain of custody of all drugs shipped into the state, and retailer WalMart's RFID mandate extends to suppliers of Class II narcotics. " ...

FDA RFID: Drug Supply Safety ...

While no silver bullet exits, the FDA believes in a balanced technology-enabled approach to ensuring the safety of the nation's drug supply. RFID technology is one of multiple technical methods recommended for further consideration by the FDA. ...

FDA RFID: Drug Supply Safety: Via FDA: Ensuring the Safety of America's Drug Supply Speech by Dr. Scott Gottlieb on September 20, 2005

... "Many people believe that FDA interprets our counterfeit drug report that we issued to address this growing threat as saying that we want RFID implemented by 2007. We said that an electronic pedigree should be feasible by 2007, and right now, RFID is the most promising technology to help deliver on that need. We believe that we can accelerate the development, the testing, the feasibility testing and the cost-effectiveness testing, of many of these technologies that are in development today. And as we are trying to do in other areas of FDA activities where there are new technologies that can be valuable, we want to bring them to benefit patients as soon as possible. " ...

RFID Supply Chain Seminar

Baylor offers upcoming seminar on the use of RFID in integrated supply chains. Presenters will focus on the use of RFID technology in areas, such as inventory management for the grocery supply chain and shelf life management in the food and drug supply chain. Registration information for the seminar follows ...

RFID Supply Chain Seminar: Seminar Series: RFID Integrated Supply Chains ...

October 20-21, 2005
5th Floor, Cashion Academic Center
Hankamer School of Business
Baylor University

... "RFID is increasingly being voiced as an emerging technology with great potential for cost reduction and improved customer service throughout supply chains. These cost reductions include time savings, speed of delivery, and improved information flow, which would result in better inventory positioning and reduction in stock outs.

RFID remains to be fairly new in business application research. This seminar series highlights various Affiliates of Sloan Industry Studies with related research streams. " ...

RFID Contactless Payment Technology: Growth Market Opportunity

RFID Contactless Payment Technology: Growth Market Opportunity: Via USA Technologies: USA Technologies Issues Letter to Shareholders ...

... "This important agreement has placed the Company squarely in the middle of new payment technology being rolled out to millions of US consumers. Contactless RFID credit and debit cards are already being used at some movie theaters, quick serve restaurants and drug stores, and now, in vending machines. The card associations consider the $40 Billion vending market one of the last major opportunities for growth of cashless transactions, and believe that contactless RFID technology could help accelerate the vending industry's adoption and use of cashless payment. We believe this to be an important milestone for our Company. " ...

George R. Jensen Jr.
Chairman and CEO
USA Technologies, Inc.

Radio Frequency Identification Data

Radio Frequency Identification Data: Via COPPEREYE GREENWICH: CopperEye Greenwich is a software solution for the storage, management and rapid retrieval of large volumes of read-only business event data ...

... "In addition to the well publicized mandates by the US Department of Defense and Wal-Mart for their top suppliers to use RFID, the US Food and Drug Administration has identified RFID as the technology of choice for enabling electronic drug pedigrees as a means of eliminating counterfeit drugs reaching the market. CopperEye offers a compelling, cost-effective solution for capturing, storing and providing quick access to enormous volumes of data generated by RFID monitoring systems. CopperEye can be implemented either as a standalone solution for historical business event data, or as a complementary solution to improve the performance of an existing data management technology such as a commercial relational database management system (RDBMS). " ...

CopperEye is a provider of enterprise data management software that delivers an order-of-magnitude cost savings for companies needing to capture, store and quickly access business event data where the volume is measured in the tens- or hundreds-of-terabytes. This is increasingly important as corporate data volumes more than double every year and government regulations require companies to keep data longer. Using CopperEye, companies are able to improve global business and implement more powerful business applications at dramatically lower costs than competing solutions. CopperEye's underlying technology is a new, patented indexing approach that delivers a quantum leap in performance over traditional indexing alternatives.

Hospital RFID Inventory System ...

Hospital RFID Inventory System: King’s Daughters installs high-tech inventory system for Cardiac and Vascular Cath Labs: New system enables Heart and Vascular Center to track supplies and deliver a higher quality of patient care and safety ...

RFID inventory system, from Mobile Aspects, enables operational efficiency in hospital ...

... "King’s Daughters Medical Center (KDMC) of Ashland, Ky., recently installed a new computerized inventory control system in its cardiac catheterization laboratories. The system is an integrated suite of radio frequency identification (RFID) hardware and software applications that lets KDMC automatically track supplies, drugs, assets, and patients in real time for increased patient safety and enhanced operational efficiency. " ...

KDMC, a locally controlled, not-for-profit, 385-bed regional referral center, offers comprehensive cardiac, medical, surgical, pediatric, maternity, rehabilitative, psychiatric, cancer, neurological, occupational medicine, pain care, wound care and home care services. Established in 1899, KDMC currently ranks sixth in the state of Kentucky in terms of admissions, and, with approximately 3,000 team members, is the largest employer west of Charleston, W.Va., and east of Lexington Ky.

Mobile Aspects, the recipient of the 2004 Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation Award within U.S. RFID Markets for Healthcare, provides innovative RFID solutions to enable hospitals to deliver a higher quality of care. The company’s One System of CARE™ is an integrated suite of RFID software and hardware solutions to track all supplies, drugs, assets, and patients in hospitals to make patient care safer and more efficient. The company’s RFID tracking solutions feature the iRIS™ inventory management system, the RFID-enabled Anesthesia Workstation and Drug Delivery Workstation, and the Patient and Asset tracking systems. These systems integrate seamlessly into existing hospital information management systems and eliminate all manual compliance steps while providing real-time data to clinicians. By integrating all patient and product information, the One System of CARE provides increased productivity, enhanced quality of care and safety for patients, and significant cost savings. From one web-based interface, providers can pull up information about all supplies, drugs, assets, and patients anywhere in the facility. Mobile Aspects’ One System of CARE is presently installed in several of the top 15 hospitals throughout North America.

Tag: RFID

RFID Electronic Pedigree BioPharmaceuticals ...

RFID Electronic Pedigree BioPharmaceuticals: FFF Enterprises and SupplyScape Partner to Launch Nation's First Electronic Pedigree for Biopharmaceuticals: Largest U.S. biopharmaceuticals distributor and pedigree technology leader collaborate to provide first drug tracking system from manufacturer to distributor to healthcare providers nationwide ...

FFF and SupplyScape collaborate to develop RFID-enabled electronic pedigree process for the biopharmaceutical space ...

... "Over the last two years, SupplyScape has provided the industry leadership to define an open, universal pedigree solution that works for all drugs today and RFID tagged drugs that may be available in the future. Our partnership with FFF Enterprises is a natural one, said Shabbir Dahod, president and CEO of SupplyScape Corporation. We provide the most mature solution leading to rapid deployment of a safe and secure supply chain, and FFF Enterprises differentiates itself with its unique business approach of providing distribution with the highest integrity. We believe our combined efforts are improving the quality of healthcare for millions of Americans by keeping their drugs safer. " ...

FFF Enterprises was founded in 1988 and has since grown into a multidimensional healthcare company, delivering innovative solutions in biopharmaceutical management and distribution, health information management and consumer healthcare services. FFF is now the nation's largest supplier of human plasma products and vaccines, and also distributes other biopharmaceuticals and clinical trial drugs. Customers of FFF's four divisions include members of the leading U.S. acute care and non-acute care group purchasing organizations, pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotech companies, contract research organizations, managed healthcare and consumers. FFF's unique distribution business model has institutionalized Guaranteed Channel Integrity™, which reflects the company's commitment to purchase only from manufacturers and ship only to healthcare providers - one clear line with no gray in between. This protects products from secondary and gray markets, and improves patient safety.

SupplyScape provides electronic pedigree software and expertise to safeguard and secure the pharmaceutical supply chain. A leader in defining an open universal standards-based electronic pedigree solution for the pharmaceutical industry, the company's executives enable manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and pharmacies to derive sustainable business value from their investments in electronic pedigree and supply chain security.

Cephalon RFID Pilot: Drug Tracking ...

Cephalon RFID Pilot: Drug Tracking: Cephalon Selects OAT Foundation Suite for Item-Level Drug Tracking Pilot: OAT Foundation Suite Powers RFID Initiative to Drive Supply Chain Efficiencies and Ensure Patient Safety ...

Cephalon pilots RFID drug tracking as products move through the value chain to market. Broader RFID drug tracking implementation is expected, upon conclusion of the pilot period ...

... "OATSystems®, Inc., the recognized RFID framework leader, announced that Cephalon, Inc, an international biopharmaceutical company, has selected OAT Foundation Suite as the RFID software platform for use in a pilot program for tracking branded pharmaceuticals across the supply chain. For the pilot, OAT Foundation Suite will deliver end-to-end visibility of Cephalon’s products as they move across owned and outsourced facilities as well as selected drug wholesaler trading partners. Once the pilot project has proven successful, Cephalon will implement RFID utilizing the OAT Foundation Suite. " ...

OATSystems, Inc. is the recognized RFID framework leader with software that empowers businesses to achieve competitive advantage from radio-frequency identification (RFID). As pioneers in the development of RFID technology, OAT has been setting the standard in RFID for over half a decade and is responsible for industry firsts that include the largest scale and largest scope of deployments, as well as the most innovative approaches to providing enterprise-wide RFID solutions.

Additional resources on RFID pilots for drug tracking:

Purdue Pharma announced that it is placing RFID tags on bottles of the pain reliever OxyContin (oxycodone) to make it easier to authenticate, as well as to track and trace the medication. OxyContin, which is a controlled substance, has been subject to abuse, theft, and diversion. Based on the availability of sufficient RFID tags, Purdue also plans to tag bottles of Palladone (hydromorphone), a newly approved product to treat persistent moderate-to-severe pain.

Nine months after an FDA task force promoted the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) on drug packaging and labeling to prevent fake products from entering the supply chain, agency officials on November 15 announced that at least four pharmaceutical makers are participating in pilot projects or studies to test the effectiveness of RFID in combating counterfeiting.

GlaxoSmithKline [NYSE: GSK) announced that it will begin using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in the next 12 to 18 months on at least one product deemed susceptible to counterfeiting in order to more effectively monitor its progress from the company to the patient. GSK is partnering in this pilot project with the US Food and Drug Administration, which is encouraging the use of RFID technology to protect American patients from the growing risk of counterfeit and diverted medicines.

RFID Track and Trace

RFID Track and Trace: Edge Dynamics: Join Edge Dynamics and Pembroke Consulting for a Special Webcast: Secure Commerce Practices for Today's Pharmaceutical Channel ...

... "RFID Track and Trace: Edge Dynamics and Pembroke Consulting for a Special Webcast: Secure Commerce Practices for Today's Pharmaceutical Channel, Wednesday - July 13, 2005, 12:00pm - 1:00pm Eastern Time; Edge Dynamics CEO John McGrory and Pembroke Consulting President Adam J. Fein, Ph.D. will present a compelling analysis of the current U.S. drug distribution channel, discuss future trends, and supply a framework to help drug makers protect patients from counterfeits from being introduced into the legitimate supply chain through inventory diversion. " ...

Authenticated RFID Drug Security: PKI Technology

Authenticated RFID Drug Security: PKI Technology: 3M and Texas Instruments Implement Authenticated RFID to Combat Counterfeit Drugs ...

3M and TI collaborate to deliver authenticated RFID solutions, based on PKI technology, that secure the drug supply ...

... "3M and Texas Instruments today announced they have teamed up to implement a strategy to battle drug counterfeiting and boost pharmaceutical supply chain security. The companies are offering an integrated security solution for the pharmaceutical market's first authenticated radio frequency identification (RFID) industry platform. The Authenticated RFID Platform is a multi-layered, transaction-based security solution where each item is uniquely and securely authenticated. A Texas Instruments RFID tag placed on each package delivers a machine-readable security stamp containing a digital signature that is based on Public-key Infrastructure (PKI). Dispensing sites can use this digital signature as strong evidence that the product came from the original manufacturer. " ...

Texas Instruments is the world’s largest integrated manufacturer of radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders and reader systems. Capitalizing on its competencies in high-volume semiconductor manufacturing and microelectronics packaging, TI is a visionary leader and at the forefront of establishing new markets and international standards for RFID applications. Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers’ real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company’s businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries. Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN.

Every day, 3M people find new ways to make amazing things happen. Wherever they are, whatever they do, the company's customers know they can rely on 3M to help make their lives better. 3M's brands include Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Command and Vikuiti. Serving customers in more than 200 countries around the world, the company's 67,000 people use their expertise, technologies and global strength to lead in major markets including consumer and office; display and graphics; electronics and telecommunications; safety, security and protection services; health care; industrial and transportation.

RFID Testing Benefits Realization

RFID Testing Benefits Realization: ALBERTSONS ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 2005 RESULTS: Earnings Increase +93%.....Results Exceed First Call Consensus ...

... "RFID testing continued during the quarter as the company worked closely with top suppliers to gauge the benefits of RFID for supply chain optimization. " ...

Albertsons is one of the world's largest food and drug retailers. The Company's divisions and subsidiaries operate approximately 2,500 stores in 37 states across the U.S. and employ more than 240,000 associates. Its banners include Albertsons, Acme, Shaw's, Jewel-Osco, Sav-on Drugs, Osco Drug, and Star Market, as well as Super Saver and Bristol Farms, which are operated independently.

RFID Embedded Systems ...

Embedded Systems RFID: Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an automated data-capture technology that can be used to electronically identify, track, and store information contained on a tag that is attached to or embedded in an object, such as a product, case, or pallet ...

... "An embedded system is a special-purpose computer system that is used within a device. An embedded system has specific requirements and performs predefined tasks, unlike a general-purpose personal computer. To date, embedded RFID chips have been tested in smart test tubes that store data about the tube's contents, which has facilitated obtaining correct information for identifying specimens and time-stamping doctor's orders. Embedded chips in credit cards and mobile phones for contactless payments are also expected to become increasingly popular in Asia. Embedded RFID chips are being proposed for use in numerous applications, including electronic passports, tires to determine wear, drug containers for tracking and theft control, and aircraft for maintenance. " ...

Pharma RFID Authentication Model

Pharma RFID Authentication Model: Texas Instruments and VeriSign Collaborate on Authenticated RFID Model for the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain: Proposes Combination of RFID and PKI Technologies Adding New Layer of Security to Combat Counterfeit Drugs ...

TI and VeriSign propose RFID-based model for drug authentication ...

... "In the battle against counterfeit drugs in the pharmaceutical supply chain, Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) and VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN) today introduced a model for Authenticated RFID that has the potential to enhance security and chain-of-custody controls. The Authenticated RFID model will combine ISO/IEC standard 13.56 MHz RFID and PKI (Public-key infrastructure) technologies in a two-stage approach to fight the counterfeit drug problem. Texas Instruments and VeriSign are developing the Authenticated RFID model to support item-level authentication at the pharmacy, and the implementation over time of a supply chain infrastructure to validate transactions at any point along the chain of custody. This Authenticated RFID model proposes an enhancement to item-level product security in real-time by creating stronger authentication between the tag and any Authenticated RFID reader from the point of manufacture to the point of sale. 3M, a leading provider of security solutions including RFID tracking and authentication systems, will supply the Authenticated RFID readers to support this new model. " ...

Texas Instruments is the world’s largest integrated manufacturer of radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders and reader systems. Capitalizing on its competencies in high-volume semiconductor manufacturing and microelectronics packaging, TI is a visionary leader and at the forefront of establishing new markets and international standards for RFID applications.

VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN) operates intelligent infrastructure services that enable businesses and individuals to find, connect, secure, and transact across today's complex global networks.

RFID Electronic Pedigree Pilot ...

SupplyScape RFID Electronic Pedigree Pilot: SupplyScape and Unisys Pilot Pharmaceutical Industry's First Electronic Pedigree System for Commercial Drugs

... "The pilot project is the pharmaceutical industry's first electronic drug pedigree, which is a certificate of authenticity detailing a drug's movement through the supply chain. It will track the distribution of one of Purdue Pharma L.P.'s analgesic products from the manufacturing facility to the seventh largest wholesaler in the U.S., H. D. Smith. Using a universal electronic pedigree model, the system is designed to help reduce the risk of counterfeit medicines being introduced into the legitimate supply chain. The pedigree management system is a first-of-its-kind, open system, with technology designed to certify medicines as legitimate throughout the supply chain. The system uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or barcodes to match each medication container with its corresponding pedigree. Without the pedigree, it is difficult to determine where a drug has been and if it is authentic. " ...

Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and solutions company. Our people combine expertise in consulting, systems integration, outsourcing, infrastructure and server technology with precision thinking and relentless execution to help clients, in more than 100 countries, quickly and efficiently achieve competitive advantage. Purdue Pharma L.P. and its independent, associated U.S. companies are privately held pharmaceutical companies known for pioneering research on persistent pain. Headquartered in Stamford, CT, Purdue is engaged in the research, development, production, and distribution of both prescription and over-the-counter medicines and hospital products. Headquartered in Springfield, Illinois, H. D. Smith is the largest privately held national full-service wholesale distributor that provides a complete line of pharmaceuticals, OTCs, HBAs, surgical supplies, seasonal merchandise and a wide array of marketing programs to retail, hospital and institutional pharmacies. The company has five distribution facilities in California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Texas that service major markets in the west, mid-west, southwestern and northeastern United States, and will soon open a sixth distribution center located in southern Florida that is expected to be fully operational in early 2005.

RFID Antenna Production: Secure Printing ...

Creo and XINK Laboratories Announce World's First Security Ink for High-Volume Flexographic RFID Antenna Production: New Covert Taggant Formulation Prevents Counterfeit RFID Tags ...

... "Creo Inc. (NASDAQ: CREO; TSX: CRE) and XINK Laboratories Ltd. presented a new class of secure flexographic radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna printing inks at the PISEC 6th World Product & Image Security Convention (www.pisec-world.com), held in Vienna, Austria recently. These new covertly tagged flexographic ink formulations target manufacturers and converters producing RFID-tagged smart packaging for use in supply-chains. This type of smart packaging has been mandated by Wal-Mart and, more recently, was recommended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for pharmaceutical counterfeit protection. This new class of flexographic security inks and RFID tags is available exclusively through XINK and its worldwide authorized printing and manufacturing partners. Until now, one of the main concerns of the RFID industry has been the ability of counterfeiters to copy RFID tags by duplicating RFID numbering schemes. The new XINK antenna inks eliminate this possibility by integrating Creo Traceless covert tagging technology, elevating Traceless XINK-printed RFID tags into the same league as currency and security instruments. " ...

XINK advanced conductive and resistive ink formulations allow printing of complex electronic circuitry, including flexible paper sensors (package security), sensor grids (smart pharmaceutical packaging), keypads (electronic paper diaries), and UHF RFID antennas.

Medication RFID Label Communicates ...

En-Vision America Awarded Patent Related to RFID and Medications ...

... "The ScripTalk System, which was introduced in 2001, places an RFID label on prescriptions. Using a handheld reader, the patient can listen to the information stored on the microchip. The voice device conveys label information such as: Drug Name, Dosage, Instructions, Warnings, Number of Refills, Doctor's Name, Pharmacy Phone, and Rx Number. The Company has had great success providing the ScripTalk System to the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense. After pilot tests inside retail pharmacies, the company is now planning a nationwide launch of the system in Q1 2006. " ...

Located in Normal, IL, En-Vision America has been developing products for the visually impaired and seniors since 1995. In addition to the ScripTalk product, the privately held company markets "i.d. mate II", a talking bar code identification system.

RFID Feasibility Studies

Radiofrequency Identification Feasibility Studies and Pilot Programs for Drugs ...

... "A manufacturer, repackager, relabeler, distributor, retailer, or others acting at their direction will attach RFID tags (chips and antennae) to only immediate containers, secondary packaging, shipping containers, and/or pallets of drugs that are being placed into commerce. There is no limit to the number of tags or readers that may be used in the study. The drugs involved will be limited to prescription or over-the-counter finished products. The drugs involved will not include those approved under a Biologics License Application or protein drugs covered by a New Drug Application. " ...

RFID Technology Event: Today...

RFID Tech Talk ...

... "RFID Event: May 23, 2005, RFID Tech Talk at the National Press Club, 6:30 PM, Call Jean at 202-662-7129 or e-mail opus@press.org

Sponsored by The National Press Club High Tech Committee, NPC Conference Rooms

TECH TALK on RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID)

Speakers
Mr. Alan Estevez, Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Supply Chain Integration
Mr. Michael Meranda, President, EPCglobal Consortium
Dr. Sanjay Sarma, CEO, OATSystems, Inc.
Paula Bruening, J.D., Counsel, Center for Democracy and Technology
Dr. Robert Atkinson, VP, Progressive Policy Institute
Ilisa Bernstein, Pharm. D., J.D., Sr. Advisor for Regulatory Policy, Food and Drug Administration

RFID is a transformative technology that improves the delivery, safety and efficiency of how products get to consumers; RFID will dramatically improve in-transit visibility, the ability to see products as they move from point A to B, in the global supply chain costs the retail industry $180 billion-$300 billion annually, or 6 to 10 percent of total supply chain spending, and it is an important issue for the Department of Defense; RFID in US Passports and credit cards might be exploited by unscrupulous businesses and terrorists; How and why privacy advocates are attempting to curtail RFID deployment by raising a host of claims about the technology; Pharmaceutical drugs can be better tracked to prevent counterfeiting. Shipping containers that reach our ports can be checked for tampering. And best of all, products will be on the shelf when and where you want to buy them; " ...

The Club shall provide people who gather and disseminate news a center for the advancement of their professional standards and skills, the promotion of free expression, mutual support and social fellowship.

RFID Blink Smart Cards: Speed and Convenience

RFID Blink Smart Cards: Speed and Convenience: Chase To Roll Out Next Generation Payment Product This Summer

Chase will release RFID smart cards with blink capabilities ...

... "Chase Bank U.S.A., N.A., a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. [NYSE: JPM], announced today that it will become the first bank to increase the speed and convenience of a credit card by broadly rolling out consumer cards with contactless functionality, called blink. Chase will begin a market-by-market rollout of the Chase credit cards with blink this summer, after working closely with merchants in each market to ensure the broadest possible acceptance at launch. Working in conjunction with Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International Incorporated, Chase has identified merchants where speed and convenience are important to consumers, and has been actively building a roster of merchants in each market. Initially, Chase cardmembers will be able to blink at well-known movie theaters, convenience and specialty retailers such as 7-Eleven, quick service restaurants and drug stores. Chase will announce additional lists of specific merchants when they issue cards with blink in each market. " ...

The most significant timesavings can be realized in the drive-thru environment, where transaction time was reduced by as much as 20 seconds as compared to cash. Consumers also liked the convenience of not carrying cash for everyday purchases, meaning they no longer needed to fumble around for change and small bills, or be confined by the cash in their purses or wallets. In fact, 60 percent of respondents to a recent MasterCard survey said they use cash less often today than they did five years ago. For merchants, blink transactions speed checkout times and allow consumers to spend less time waiting in lines. Research has shown that customers who use blink cards often spend more per transaction and are happier with their store experience. Chase cards with blink also provide a reliable, trusted payment method that works well in environments where speed is important. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm.

RFID Track and Trace Technology

RFID Track and Trace Technology: Manhattan Associates Continues to Build Momentum with Microsoft Industry Builder Initiative

... "In order to comply with electronic pedigree regulations, Harvard Drug intends to implement this solution in a phased rollout across its entire distribution network. Harvard Drug will roll out Supply Chain Execution for Microsoft Axapta at its Indianapolis distribution center first and will then extend the rollout across its two other facilities. Additionally, its future plans include implementing RFID technology to further improve its track and trace capabilities." ...

Manhattan Associates, Inc., is the global leader in providing supply chain execution and optimization solutions. It enables operational excellence through its warehouse, transportation, distributed order management, reverse logistics and trading partner management applications, as well as its RFID, performance management and event management capabilities. These Integrated Logistics Solutions™ leverage state-of-the-art technologies, innovative practices and our domain expertise to enhance performance, profitability and competitive advantage. Manhattan Associates has licensed more than 900 customers representing more than 1,600 facilities worldwide, which include some of the world's leading manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Drug RFID Technology Awareness ...

Pharmaceutical Education Associates Speech in 2005

Remarks by Lester M. Crawford, D.V.M., Ph.D., Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs ...

... "In November, 2004, FDA stepped up its effort by issuing a compliance policy guide to facilitate pilot projects for the use of Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Technology in the pharmaceutical sector. RFID is the cornerstone technology in the fight against counterfeit drugs because of its ability to track, trace and authenticate packages of drugs. Using state-of-art electronic technology on every product, RFID allows the creation of an electronic pedigree from the point of manufacture to the point of dispensing. An electronic pedigree is a record of all the places where drugs have been and who has had it. It will minimize fraudulent mishandling and mischief to occur to tagged drug products. I announced a few months ago that Pfizer and Purdue Pharma have already joined FDA action in implementing RFID and more are following suit. The FDA expects to see widespread adoption of RFID technology by the pharmaceutical industry by the year 2007. " ...

RFID Company Chairman Elected: RFID in Healthcare

Mobile Aspects Elects James H. Thrall, M.D. as Chairman of the Board

... "Mobile Aspects, Inc., a leading provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking solutions for the healthcare industry, announced today the election of James H. Thrall, M.D. as its Chairman of the Board. ... As Chairman of the Board, Dr. Thrall will help develop and set policy, strategy, and direction for Mobile Aspects. Combined with the recent announcement of Mobile Aspects’ One System of CARE™ suite of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) products to provide a higher quality of patient care and safety, the appointment of Dr. Thrall is another significant step in the expansion of both Mobile Aspects and its RFID healthcare systems solutions." ...

Mobile Aspects, the recipient of the 2004 Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation Award within U.S. RFID markets for Healthcare, provides innovative RFID solutions to enable hospitals to deliver a higher quality of care. The company’s One System of CARE™ is an integrated suite of RFID software and hardware solutions to track all supplies, drugs, assets, and patients in hospitals to make patient care safer and more efficient. The company’s RFID tracking solutions feature the iRIS™ inventory management system, the RFIDenabled Anesthesia Workstation and Drug Delivery Workstation, and the Patient and Asset tracking systems. These systems integrate seamlessly into existing hospital information management systems and eliminate all manual compliance steps while providing real time data to clinicians. By integrating all patient and product information, the One System of CARE provides increased productivity, enhanced quality of care and safety for patients, and significant cost savings. From one web-based interface, providers can pull up information about all supplies, drugs, assets, and patients anywhere in the facility. Mobile Aspects’ One System of CARE is presently installed in several of the top 15 hospitals throughout North America.

RFID Drug Importation: Development & Distribution ...

HHS Task Force on Drug Importation: Development & Distribution ...

... "Consequently, the tag costs and, therefore, its functionality was minimized. The resulting cheap tag stores only a unique identifier, the electronic product code known as EPC, for a particular object. The unique object identifier is global in scope and acts as a pointer to information stored about the object somewhere over the information network. A redirection service, the object name service, is used in conjunction with the electronic product code to identify the location of information and related services for a particular object. The object name service allows for the location or locally available information, as well as globally available information. The information must be stored in a standard language to enable true automation, which is required in supply chains. The Auto ID system utilizes an XML based language called the physical mark-up language to standardize the description of physical objects and their properties. Therefore, there are three major components of the auto ID system: the radio frequency identification tags, the software backbone of the system and the standards of the technology." ...