Hi, all

The next few blogs will point you to information on the recent announcement of the EFPIA 2D labelling scheme. The EFPIA is the European Federation of Pharmaceutical and Industries Association.

In-Pharma's article on this announcement is:

http://www.in-pharmatechnologist.com/Packaging/2D-barcodes-make-faking-less-attractive-says-EFPIA/?c=JiBz%2FX6W8967KGa2Liah%2FA%3D%3D&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BDaily

Importantly, as our partner Siemens notes,

[Siemens] "will provide connectivity for pharmacies and manufacturers to the EFPIA database, which is hosted by Hewlett Packard (HP). Manufacturers will populate the EFPIA database with the serial numbers of the saleable units shipped, and pharmacies will read those serial numbers at the point of sale (via 2D barcode) and authenticate the unit sold against the EFPIA database."

In other words, the cloud enables the crowd. 2D barcode readers are not just in the hands of the pharmacists. Look for us all--corporations, enterprises, brand owners, shippers, retailers, consumers, environmentalists--to embrace this approach. It helps level the playing field for everyone, except--one hopes--the counterfeiters.

Cheers,

Steve