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by Beth Stackpole, Contributing Editor Posted on Friday, November 03, 2006 3:10:08 PM   | Abstract: | Purdue Pharma takes the lead in RFID track-trace systems to increase the safety of its products throughout the supply chain. |
Diluted cancer drugs. Schizophrenia or HIV medication laced with talcum powder, aspirin and salt water. Menstrual cramps pills polluted with lead-based highway paint. These are not the sick scenarios of bad made-for-TV movies. They're real-life incidents that have occurred during the last few years due to the escalation of counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Purdue Pharma L.P. and numerous other drug manufacturers are taking this issue very seriously. They're aggressively attacking the scourge by piloting new radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking systems designed to keep a constant watch over their products as they go to market. Purdue Pharma (Stamford, CT), the maker of OxyContin and Palladone, among other prescription and non-prescription drugs, last November was one of the first to launch a pilot program to integrate RFID tags at the item-level for two of its largest customers: Wal-Mart and drug wholesaler H.D. Smith. The pilot, which places RFID tags on the labels for 100-tablet bottles of OxyContin, is just the start of Purdue Pharma's major RFID initiative and multi-layered security approach. The drug manufacturer is also pursuing other overt and covert measures to safeguard its products. The goal: To transform the way Purdue Pharma packages and ships medications in order to deter counterfeiting and diversion, and to track the authenticity and safety of its products throughout the entire pharmaceutical supply chain. "We've seen a greater incidence of counterfeit drugs, and we ... take the threat very seriously," explains Aaron Graham, the company's vice president and chief security officer, who was hired in 2002 to take on counterfeiting and other security issues. "RFID is critical to how we can keep counterfeit drugs out of our nation's supply chain." [Click to continue] |