RFID set for wider role in protecting drugs

Radio frequency identification (RFID) could be set for a bigger role in the protection of leading drugs.

The technology enables manufacturers to tag their products to help ensure that authentic medicines get to patients.

Last week, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) became the latest pharmaceutical company to announce an RFID pilot. This follows a similar move by Pfizer.

GSK said it would test the system in the US, with a possible worldwide rollout if it proves successful.

“The hope is that RFID tags can tighten the supply chain even further to help assure patients that the medicine they buy is indeed the medicine their doctor has prescribed,” said Mark Shaefer, vice president of the HIV and infectious disease medicine development center at GSK.

The pilot scheme will involve the electronic tagging of Trizivir, a drug used to treat HIV.

GSK chose Trizivir because it has been identified as one of the drugs most likely to be targeted by counterfeiters.

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