Dirk Rodgers, formerly of SupplyScape and one of the foremost experts on track and trace/brand integrity, published what we’ve all been waiting for…realization that RFID is Dead (at the unit level for pharmaceuticals) on his RxTrace blog. I say “that we’ve all been waiting for” as, since the initial discussions of Florida’s pedigree law and certainly during the California pedigree debates, RFID has been mentioned as a “preferred method” by both governments and wholesalers. While debate has raged, my guidance to clients has been clear…RFID should be considered at the case and/or pallet level but not at the unit level unless there is a significant business case.
Archive for April, 2010
RFID is Dead…at the Unit Level in Pharma
Monday, April 26th, 2010Zen and the Art of Innovation: Big Pharma Shifts Its R&D Focus
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010Here in Massachusetts, we hold a firm belief that springtime is a time of renewal. The days grow longer and brighter as the resident’s moods begin to elevate for the season to come. This “renewal” is certainly analogus to a seismic shift over the past few months within the pharmaceutical industry, for which Big Pharma is beginning to evaluate their future R&D strategies. Major industry headlines are broadcasting drastic billion dollar cuts in internal R&D spending due to the lack of substantial drug development productivity over the past decade. In response, multinational pharmaceutical companies are beginning to search for external opportunities to nurture the innovation process, namely through collaboration and alliances with external research organizations, academia, and emerging biotechnology companies. The overarching concept is it that these distinct groups posses the necessary resources and IP to develop disruptive biopharmaceutical technologies that have the potential to treat major unmet medical needs that will revolutionize the industry.
3PL Strategies in Life Sciences – Important Points from Supply Chain Working Group Meeting
Monday, April 12th, 2010Almost all (if not all) life sciences companies outsource some portion of their Supply Chain. Among those capabilities most commonly outsourced are those associated with the downstream activities of shipping and distribution. Many companies come to the understanding very early on that to have these activities in-house is not something they want to invest in and, in doing so, turn to 3PL providers to be their partners (more…)
Pharmaceutical Track-and-Trace Makes it Big
Monday, April 5th, 2010On April 1, pharmaceutical Track-and-trace made it to the Op Ed page of the New York Times…and it wasn’t an April Fools’ joke!
Katherine Eban, of Dangerous Doses fame, and J. Aaron Graham, former chief security officer of Purdue Pharma, who launched one of the first RFID-enabled Track-and-trace pilots for OxyContin in 2004, teamed up to write a piece on the risks of illegal (counterfeit, diverted) pharmaceutical product and the benefits and costs of track and trace technologies designed to protect against such illicit activity. The Op-Ed was written in response to a $75 million theft of psychiatric drugs (Prozac, Cymbalta, Zyprexa) from Eli Lilly’s Enfield, CT warehouse.
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