FDA kicks off pilot program to strengthen drug supply chain

February 08, 2019 / Nathan Eddy

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a pilot project to encourage the use of innovative and emerging technologies for tracing and verifying prescription drugs in the United States. Under the voluntary program — open to pharmaceutical distribution supply chain members — the pilots will explore and evaluate methods to enhance the safety and security of the supply chain. "We're giving industry an opportunity to test new technologies that can help spur greater accountability for participants in the supply chain and improve our ability to trace prescription drugs at every point in the distribution chain," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. The DSCSA law requires drug manufacturers of pharmaceutical products sold in the United States to serialize, or otherwise uniquely identify, pharmaceutical products.