Dave Bailey, writing for computing.co.uk, provides a brief report on the outcome of a pilot program to test GS1 standards for their ability track and trace pharma products from their point of origin to the shelves in the local pharmacy. This has huge implications for eradicating counterfeit products and speeding recalls. Please see the entire story here for more information about participants, partners and funding sources. But here’s the essence of the pilot’s outcome:

The project tracked 15 different drugs from their manufacturing origin in Ireland and the Netherlands to Barts’ pharmacy department using GS1 standards, which includes barcodes and electronic communications technology such as radio frequency identification… The pilot met all current Pharma authentication, track and trace regulations, whilst addressing current supply chain visibility deficiencies faced by the healthcare industry.

Know what I’m thinking? If you’re a U.S.-based manufacturer of pharmaceuticals, on how many shelves throughout the European Union will your product be welcomed if its label is not GS1 compliant by, say, 2010 sometime?

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  3. GS1 Completes Transport and Logistics Phase 2 Pilot Program
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