Trust.med, a medical communication company, has recently announced a significant stride toward ensuring the integrity of the pharmaceutical supply chain. Today, the company launched its Registry for Contact and Verification, a platform aimed at combating the urgent issue of counterfeit drugs in the healthcare sector. The registry sets a new standard for digital interoperability, allowing for seamless collaboration between key players in the supply chain.
The problem of counterfeit pharmaceuticals is a ticking time bomb, threatening not just industry integrity but also human lives. The widespread prevalence jeopardizes patient safety, undermines trust in healthcare systems, and poses an urgent need for solutions. Trust.med‘s new registry aims to tackle this critical problem head-on, offering a comprehensive platform for verification and collaboration.
The Need for a New Standard
According to the World Health Organization, a staggering 10.5% of medications globally are either substandard or outright counterfeit. These compromised medications lead to adverse drug reactions, ineffective treatments, and even fatal outcomes, presenting a colossal challenge for healthcare providers and patients alike.
To curb this disturbing trend, the United States enacted the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). The act mandates the creation of an interoperable electronic system that enables tracking and tracing of drug products at the package level. The legislation aims to build a collaborative framework involving manufacturers, wholesale distributors, pharmacies, and other dispensaries, thereby fortifying the entire pharmaceutical supply chain.
How Trust.med’s Registry Addresses the Issue
Trust.med has its own solution to the issue, with the company seeking to redefine the standards for pharmaceutical supply chain collaboration. The newly launched Registry for Contact and Verification leverages digital interoperability to connect all aspects of the drug supply chain.
With an expansive database that includes contact details, pharmaceutical product data, trading partner locations, and verification information for 35,000 drug products, the registry serves as a robust platform for comprehensive, real-time information exchange.
“The pressure is mounting for every participant in the pharmaceutical supply chain to be in full compliance with DSCSA requirements. Trust.med has already established the necessary connections and technology to link manufacturers and their solution providers with all authorized trading partners,” says John Winkler, Trust.med’s Chief Product Officer.
The Registry has the capacity not just to facilitate compliance but to elevate the pharmaceutical supply chain’s resilience against counterfeit, contaminated, or otherwise harmful drugs.
Initial Rollout and Future Prospects
The initial phase of the Trust.med Registry zeroes in on establishing connections that matter. By identifying contacts, connecting trading partners, and enabling authorized product verifications, the Registry builds the essential groundwork for a more secure and efficient pharmaceutical supply chain. It’s about creating a network that ensures only authentic, safe drugs make it to the consumer.
But Trust.med isn’t stopping at B2B solutions. They plan to open the Registry to consumers in the future. By democratizing access to critical drug verification information, Trust.med is setting the stage for an unprecedented level of transparency and safety in drug consumption.
The Technical Side of Trust.med
The technology behind Trust.med’s Registry aims to be user-friendly. Available both through an API and a web browser, the system ensures that all trading partners — regardless of their tech-savviness — can easily access and engage with the platform. In a world where rapid and secure data exchange is crucial, Trust.med has developed a flexible solution that caters to the needs of a diverse set of stakeholders in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
Trust.med is also committed to handling all the intricacies involved in data transfer, tracking, and compliance required by the DSCSA. That means manufacturers, pharmacies, hospitals, and other key players don’t have to navigate the convoluted maze of regulations and data management themselves.
Conclusion
As the healthcare sector grapples with the enormity of the counterfeit drug problem, Trust.med’s newly launched Registry for Contact and Verification has emerged as a much-needed solution to real problems. It provides a comprehensive solution for ensuring supply chain integrity, thus safeguarding millions of lives.
