IBM Taps RFID for Pharma Industry
IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled a radio frequency identification (RFID) system for tracking and tracing of pharmaceuticals. 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.
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