Pharma, RFID trials going strong…
Pharmaceutical fraud continues to be a big problem.
But as more and more RFID and drug companies complete successful pilots for tracking controlled substances, it’s also big business.
Take Aegate, a company whose business is healthcare authentication business. Results major four-month pilot of fraud-busting technology in the United States, unveiled at the recent Secure Pharma Conference in Philadelphia, confirm the potential of Aegate’s global system to prevent fraudulent medicines, including counterfeits, from being inadvertently dispensed to patients, company executives say.
The study involved 42 pharmacies across New York State, between November 2005 and March 2006, getting more than 150,000 pharmaceutical product items scanned at the point of dispensing. In the U.K., than 330,000 items in total have been scanned and tested by Aegate’s system. This included 23,000 items that were tagged with RFID, representing the largest trial of its kind in the industry.
The tests were apparentely so successful, that the company’s quickly moving to the next item on the agenda: rollout.