Dive Brief:

• The Forerunner Group launched the first product tracking and transparency system within the pharmaceutical industry last week. Called the RX Transparent Compliance Platform, the system provides tracking at a far greater level than previously seen within the industry, according to the company.
• The system was developed in order to meet the increased scrutiny demanded by the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). The RX Transparent Compliance platform provides visibility and transparency throughout the entire pharmaceutical supply chain, notes Forerunner, including traceability beyond the loading dock to the individual dose.  
• The RX Transparent Compliance  platform enables seamless tracking across real-world healthcare settings and scenarios, including transfers, borrow and trade, repackaging/off-label use and first responder resupply, Forerunner stated. 

Dive Insight:

In 2013, the Drug Supply Security Act was passed by Congress in order to more thoroughly and quickly determine counterfeit and suspect drugs. Drug suppliers and pharmaceutical procurement professionals were therefore called upon to be able to trace every aspect of the supply chain leading out of the drugs' manufacture.

As tracing the path of a drug's dispersion is a time consuming and demanding undertaking, Forerunner Group's new RX Transparency platform simplifies the retrieval process, whether issued by the manufacturer or the FDA.

The Forerunner Group CEO Dwight deVera told Supply Chain Dive such a platform allows what previously took 48 hours (the amount of time allowed by the FDA to process the search) to take only 48 seconds,  easing the process for  pharmaceutical procurement professionals engaged in recall processes.

"Drug recalls that the general public never hears about happen every month," deVera stated, adding the business is seeing some success among procurement professionals within the pharmaceutical industry, those on whom the burden for tracing and recalls falls.