In line with FDA’s ruling which calls for drug authentication, the US-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer has introduced an RFID-enabled verification process to combat the selling of fake Viagra in the country.
Pfizer which supplies millions units of Viagra annually has integrated Tagsys Flexible Module passive high frequency RFID tag in each of the packaged bottle and an RFID interrogator encodes an electronic product code (EPC) to each label. It uses another interrogator to verify the tag whether it has been properly encoded or not. The interrogator reads the unique ID stored on the tag’s chip, ensuring Pfizer to record chip ID and EPC in a database.
Besides it, the medicine company has also tagged its stock-keeping units at the case and pallet levels. As part of the RFID program, the wholesalers and pharmacies will use an RFID interrogator linked to the pharmaceutical company’s RxAuthentication service over a secure Internet connection to prove the authenticity of each tag’s unique EPC and chip ID.
Suppose the Chip ID mismatches with Pfizer’s records, the service sends a notice to quarantine the product and to Pfizer’s medical information services employees who ask the druggist or wholesaler to send the suspected bottle to Pfizer for verification.
