Biopharmaceutical pack

Might the FDA set a mandatory RFID standard? Comments from a February 8 and 9 meeting make it likely. On February 8 and 9, the Food and Drug Administration sent a signal on RFID to the pharmaceutical industry, which companies clearly received. "I am disappointed at the apparent slowdown in RFID implementation," stated acting FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach at a meeting of the FDA Counterfeit Drug Task Force in Bethesda, MD. Eschenbach asked the task force to figure out what was slowing down drug companies on RFID and to make recommendations to him by May. Based on the comments of the members of the task force, who are all FDA legal, regulatory, and enforcement officials, it seems very likely the FDA will develop a mandatory standard requiring pharmaceutical companies to adopt RFID tagging in a phased manner, with the highest-risk drugs going first.