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PHARMACEUTICAL giant Pfizer Inc. has begun to ship its
Viagra product with radio-frequency identification (RFID)
tags to its customers in the US as part of an initiative
to promote patient safety by combating pharmaceutical
counterfeiting.
According to shippingline.biz, RFID technology is being
added to all Viagra sold in the US to enable pharmacies
and wholesalers to verify the unique electronic product
code, or EPC, on Viagra packaging. 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 especially
designed electronic scanners that communicate the code
over the Internet to a secure Pfizer web site.
“The
primary goal for adding the technology is to enhance
patient safety,” says Tom McPhillips, vice president of
Pfizer’s US Trade Group. “We want pharmacists who fill
prescriptions for Pfizer medicines, and patients who use
those medicines, to have increased confidence that they
are receiving authentic product and not a potentially
dangerous fake. We are creating additional barriers for
criminals who might attempt to counterfeit our
products.”
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’s
application of RFID also does not allow for the
collection of any patient information.
The
company is working cooperatively with standards setting
bodies, state governments, the US Food and Drug
Administration, industry groups and its customers to
establish policies for the widespread application of
RFID in the future. Pfizer anticipates that it will take
several years before RFID is applied broadly throughout
the pharmaceutical industry. Cost will be a significant
consideration, as well as the readability and
reliability of RFID tags. Standards must be developed to
govern technology and data exchange. RFID also will
require the pharmaceutical distribution industry to
change the way it does business. |
