Antares User Group traces future of pharma serialisation

Antares Vision hosted an international convention in Brescia, Italy, where top players of the pharmaceutical industry met to discuss track and trace technology and on the new challenges faced through the implementation of serialisation systems.

Antares Vision, a designer and producer of pharmaceutical tracking systems, in fact hosted the first Antares User Group, an international meeting dedicated to the challenges that serialisation poses for the sector. The event was held on 20–21 May and welcomed managers from across Europe and the US. The managers of the main serialisation programmes for Antares Vision's major customers attended, which included the top twenty pharmaceutical companies in the world. By allowing users to share their experiences and exchange ideas, the Antares User Group believes it can help guide the rapid evolution in pharmaceutical serialisation.

In terms of number of installations and technological level, Antares Vision represents international excellence in pharmaceutical tracking systems. During the roundtable — with opening keynote speech from CEO Emidio Zorzella — the Italian company's experts covered certain fundamental aspects of the track and trace evolution, in terms of regulations and technology. They then went into detail as to how, in this context, the Antares software and hardware platform is evolving in line with the changes in the market and the various legislative frameworks.

This was a chance for the company to not only consolidate its relationship with its international partners, but also to illustrate its new technological developments and services offered before and after installation and start-up: from project management to the validation of installed systems, from helpdesk operator training to the preventive maintenance schedule.

The objective of serialisation is to further increase patient safety, thanks to the complete traceability of each individual medicine packet and protection against tampering and counterfeiting throughout every phase of packaging and distribution.

The Track & Trace Regulation made its début in Turkey in 2011. Brazil, where the regulation will be adopted by 2016, will the first true large-scale testing bench for the implementation of pharmaceutical tracking systems, awaiting the entry into force, in November 2017, of the second milestone of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in the US.

The Antares User Group offers the opportunity to outline and understand this rapidly changing scenario, tracking future challenges posed by the gradual adoption of the Track & Trace Regulation in various countries around the world.