By Bob Jabjiniak Contributing Editor

The World Health Organization estimates that 8% of the world's pharmaceuticals sold are counterfeit. In some countries, that figure is as much as 50%.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently found unapproved and potentially harmful drugs in 88% of 1,153 inspected shipments into the country. For example, Procrit, a drug used by cancer and AIDS patients, was counterfeited and partially replaced with non-sterile tap water. In addition to not treating the patient's illness, the counterfeit drug causes a severe infection of the bloodstream. Industry expert attempts to estimate the financial impact of counterfeiting varies from $1 billion to $30 billion dollars annually.

To help improve much-needed supply chain security within the pharmaceutical industry, all eyes are on RFID technology as a critical component. And despite the obstacles to its adoption (tag frequency issues, data requirement and exchange standards, validation issues, etc.), progress is indeed being made toward adopting RFID.

State pedigree laws, for starters, will take effect and intensify pressure for industry standard solutions around electronic pedigree. Complying with pedigree tracking requires introducing inventory serialization, authentication, and busi-ness-to-business data exchange that doesn't exist today and needs to be standardized.

The FDA has publicly endorsed RFID technology as a key component in industry adoption of electronic pedigrees. To help move it along, the FDA lifted a range of labeling and manufacturing practice regulations that it believed was restricting the ability to deploy RFID. The FDA also has set-up the Counterfeit Drug Task Force, which works closely with pharmaceutical companies and EPCglobal to foster the growth of RFID in mitigating fake drug deployment.

EPCglobal, too, is doing its part to address the standards issues. EPCglobal has created the Healthcare Life Sciences Business Action Group to focus on the needs of the pharma industry. Here, hundreds of key representatives from manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and technology providers are defining industry standards for the use of RFID. The focus of the group is to drive policy, information, and technology standards for the adoption of electronic pedigree.

Many companies are not waiting to begin deploying RFID. For example, Purdue Pharma is RFID-tagging every 100-tablet bottle of OxyContin pain reliever tablets that are shipped to Wal-Mart and drug wholesaler HD Smith. Pfizer is already RFID tagging cases of Viagra, and plans to have all bottles tagged by the end of 2006. Other large pharmaceutical manufacturers have publicized their intentions to begin deploying RFID this year.

Bob Jabjiniak is senior vice president of Product Management for Atlanta-based MARC Global, a provider of continuously adaptable supply chain execution solutions, including RFID, for industries including pharmaceutical, consumer packaged goods, retail, high-tech, publishing, 3PLs, and automotive. Jabjiniak, who holds a bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary Engineering and Management from Clarkson University, is a participant in EPCglobal, and is actively involved in establishing industry standards to ease the adoption of RFID technology.