PwC Australia makes a smart-tech move with new pill design
It has been announced that PwC Australia, in collaboration with Colorcon and TruTag, is developing a new ‘smart pill’ to increase supply chain integrity.
These new pharmaceutical aids will feature a Colorcon edible coating containing “spectrally-encoded particles”, which can be read by scanning software like a barcode. A downloadable smartphone app then allows the code (called a TruTag) to be read and identified. This information is subsequently recorded on a Trillian-based ledger, which will be monitored by PwC.
“Verifiable data ledger technology offers a new means of securing and sharing information,” said Trent Lund, PwC Australia Partner. “However, these systems are still reliant on ensuring a secure link via a crypto-anchor between the physical and digital world. TruTags are a perfect crypto-anchor for directly marking pharmaceuticals and foods.”
The company is hopeful that its innovative approach will promote transparency in pharmaceutical supply chains.
The three companies’ collaboration marks an important technical achievement, as well as a regulatory breakthrough. With widespread adoption in the industry, it could represent a magic bullet to unauthorised, black market medication.
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MasterControl: The US software company specialising in QMS released its new ‘Manufacturing Excellence’ solution for the pharmaceutical industry last year.
The company’s objective was to bridge operations with smart manufacturing by enabling users to switch from paper record-keeping to fully digital. Based on cloud technology, the innovation has enabled a reduction in waste and human error caused by manual data entry.
Fette Compacting: Unveiling its ‘FEC20 capsule filling machine’ in 2018, German manufacturer Fette Compacting has taken monitoring and quality control to a microscopic level.
The company’s machine allows each manufactured pharmaceutical capsule to be controlled separately, yet production speed is still maintained at an impressive 200,000 capsules per hour. Fette Compacting’s work represents a huge asset for any company that believes quantity and quality go together, not just separately.
Aptar CSP Technologies: According to the company’s claims, its ‘Xcelerate services suite’ has the potential to condense the pharmaceutical industries intense R&D process by months, including design, testing and implementation.
Utilising end-to-end expert insight to optimise each aspect, the company offers a comprehensive solution that can assist with clinical trials, regulations and commercial considerations for newly developed products.
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