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Red-X Medical, a
distributor of pharmaceuticals for the veterinary and medical markets,
has become the first pharmaceutical-related company to use the world’s
leading state of the art identification system—DataDots—to help improve
supply chain security in the United States.
Only the size of a grain of sand, each DataDot is laser etched with two
lines of information containing up to 23 characters per line. Each
DataDot is made from a high tech polyester substraight and is suspended
in a clear drying adhesive that contains an ultraviolet (UV) trace and
will be applied to pharmaceuticals distributed by Red-X. Although small
in size, the information on a DataDot can be easily read under
magnification. The DataDots are tamper-resistant and leave a UV residue
if removed.
Current Red-X Medical vendors, drug manufacturers Sicor and Virbac, are
participating in the pilot program by having their products ‘tagged and
identified’ with the DataDots. Red-X is also working with ProActive
Compliance—which assists pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors
in complying with state and federal regulations—and Identification
Technologies, the representative of Data Dots, on this initiative.
Law enforcement professionals in the United States, Mexico, Canada and
other countries around the globe—including the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police, Metropolitan London Police and the Coral Gables (Florida)
Police—are employing DataDot product in all of its forms – car security,
personal asset security and anti counterfeiting. In many cases law
enforcement departments have utilized DataDots in “covert/sting”
operations to topple known crime rings. In addition, corporations such
as Nissan, Coca-Cola, BMW, Honda, Porsche, Yamaha, and Exxon have used
this cutting edge technology in the United States and around the world.
DataDots are just one of the compliance initiatives being adopted by
Red-X Medical, according to President and CEO Edwin Rivera, Jr. The
company will also test Radio Frequency Identification tags (RFID) on the
pharmaceuticals it distributes. Founded in 1999, Red-X Medical is a
certified veteran and minority owned business. It has medical and
veterinary customers throughout the United States as it has carved out a
niche market in generic drug distribution.
“Because there is no standardization in the industry, we are looking at
various compliance initiatives,” said Rivera, who has more than a decade
in the pharmaceutical industry. “Maintaining the integrity of the supply
chain—from manufacturer to distributor to the physician—is a major
concern for the industry and is one of the hottest topics at industry
gatherings. At this point in time there is no one specific solution to
the industry’s concerns. The remedies to the challenges facing the
industry will come at various levels and be adopted by everyone in the
supply chain, regardless of size. At Red-X Medical, we want to take a
well-rounded approach to the problem and its solution. DataDots can be
thought of as a virtual ‘fingerprint’ to provide the needed transparency
that will help secure the supply chain. We feel—and we believe the
industry will agree—that DataDots technology is one of the directions
our industry needs to take.”
Red-X Medical’s multifaceted approach, which was formulated in late
2003, is borne out by a February, 2004 Food and Drug Administration
report.
According to the FDA report, “because the capabilities of counterfeiters
continue to evolve rapidly, there is no “single bullet” technology that
provides any long-term assurance of drug security. However, a
combination of rapidly improving ‘track and trace’ technologies and
product identification technologies should provide a much greater level
of security for drug products in the years ahead. Similar
anti-counterfeiting technologies are being used in other industries, and
FDA intends to facilitate their rapid development and use to keep drugs
secure against counterfeits.” |
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