Rexam unveils RFID-tagged pill bottles

A whole new effort in Qualification and "state of control"...

25/01/2007 - Packaging giant Rexam has fixed a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip in pharmaceutical bottles in response to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommendations to make use of the technology to track products through the supply chain.

Rexam has teamed up with RFID specialists Traxxec to develop the new tracking and anticounterfeiting system, which allows users to read and write information, such as batch releases, dates, product information and operational details, onto a chip. The firms promise that the fixed tags are 100 per cent reliable and faster to read than conventional bar codes.

The company explains that plastics, at the bottom of the pill containers encapsulate the chip, keeping it away from the dose forms to avoid potential migration of toxic materials. In addition, the chip is on the primary container – in keeping with the FDA's objective of eventually moving toward unit-level tagging of drug products – and kept distance from other chips in the product batch, which should help ensure a reliable read.

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