Systech and Domino combine technologies to counter fakes
that will combine Systech's TIPS Serialised Product Tracking
methods with Domino's marking and coding technology as a solution
to combat counterfeit product and increase patient safety.
The business of selling fake drugs is a burgeoning global industry, estimated to grow 13 per cent a year to reach $75bn (€62bn) in 2010, compared to just 7.5 per cent estimated annual growth for global pharmaceutical commerce, according to market research analysts Gartner and Frost & Sullivan.
"The partnership is a natural fit for both Domino and Systech," said Robert DeJean, president and CEO of Systech International.
"The agreement leverages Domino's expertise in coding and marking technologies with our track and trace technologies to deliver an integrated solution that enables pharmaceutical manufacturers to authenticate product across their supply chains," he added.
Various coding formats are supported, ranging from bar code and data matrix to RFID.
The addition of in-line verification and tag reading capabilities, coupled with failsafe data and product tracking control ensures that customers are presented with secure systems, which the companies say represents the most up-to-date technologies available for application at the point of manufacture.
"Combining Systech's TIPS Serialized Product Tracking solution with Domino's core marking and integration capabilities provides customers with quality solutions that can be delivered on a global scale," said Simon King, director of >Domino's Integrated Solution Group.
"The comprehensive solution will allow pharmaceutical manufacturers to significantly increase patient safety and combat counterfeit and diversion challenges."
Both companies have deep experience within the pharmaceutical industry, providing solutions that are fully compliant with the requirements for 21 CFR Part 11 and further supported with GAMP validation packages.
Various other strategies have been implemented in an attempt to halt the rise in counterfeit drugs. These include improving the supply chain by carefully selecting suppliers, fully training staff in good distribution practices (GDP), streamlining recall procedures and increasing transparency.
The most widely known of these strategies, RFID, has suffered in terms of general uptake as the technology is still too expensive for mass implementation across the entire supply chain, leaving products exposed to tampering and counterfeit.
Despite this, spending on worldwide RFID track-and-trace technology in general has jumped up 40 per cent from 2004 to reach over $500m worldwide in 2005.
This is expected to accelerate in late 2006 and 2007 to reach over $750m, while, as industries realise the enormous potential of this technology, worldwide RFID spending is set to surpass $3bn in 2010, according to market research firm Gartner.
