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In a notice dated 4 March 2010 Authentix reported a consortium from 10 different companies in the United Kingdom (Secure Trace Consortium, UK) successfully completed a trial run for presenting a secure supply chain. This pilot project utilised measures of electronic tracking as well as authentication. Authentix is the leading partner for the Secure Trace Consortium. According to Jim Rittenburg, Authentix, the European countries have merely selected a fragmentary approach for tracing pharmaceuticals. And the U.S.A. failed in organising a functional "Pedigree" system. Secure Trace now presents a functional strategy: the pilot project was conducted on a high-speed packaging line. The process starts by printing a unique and secure 2D barcode which uses a special marker in the ink for authentication. A unique natural fingerprint is also achieved through the use of Laser Surface Authentification. The data from the packaging is then combined to shipping cartons and pallets and the RFID labels and barcodes are applied to the shipping cartons. The full information is stored in a master database. Once the pharmaceuticals leave the packing area the product can be authenticated and verified with mobile scanners along the entire trade route all the way to the final place of delivery. With this pilot project Secure Trace would like to support the corresponding activities of EFPIA and demonstrate options beyond the EFPIA approach. The complete notice can be found here. A video on the Secure Trace Pilot Project (case study) may be viewed here. Dr. Jim Rittenburg of Authentix will also be a speaker at the University of Würzburg conference "Strategies against Counterfeit Medicines" held April 26th-28th 2010. He will present the various options for safeguarding pharmaceuticals, in regard to packaging material as well as the product itself. In addition, Dr. Stephan Schwarze, Bayer Schering Pharma AG and member of the EFPIA Anti-counterfeiting Ad Hoc Group, will present the results of the EFPIA 2D Data Matrix Code Pilot Project in Sweden at this conference. The full program complete with topics may be viewed here or on the corresponding website www.counterfeit-conference.org Author:
Dr Günter Brendelberger
On behalf of the European Compliance Academy (ECA)
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