Aggregation is the association of uniquely serialized items to higher packaging levels, which also have a unique serial number. The serialized items inside a container are known as the “children,” and the serialized container containing these packs is called the “parent.” In a bundle of bottles or cartons, each unit has its own serial number, but the bundle itself has a top label including a unique serial number. In this case, the bottles or cartons are the children, and the bundle itself is the parent.
In short, aggregation is the process of creating a hierarchical relationship between unique identifiers assigned to packaging containers.
In the United States, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) made item-level serialization mandatory in November 2018. Thanks to this legislation, more and more companies are starting to see the value and potential return on investment of serialization and compliance.
Although aggregation is only expected to become mandatory and fully applied in 2023, according to the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration), it is more realistic to say that most manufacturers, along with the top pharmaceutical companies, will be ready well before the deadline, or have already implemented an interoperable track-and-trace system along with their serialization. This global transparency will prevent counterfeit and fraudulent products from entering the improved healthcare supply chain, therefore ensuring the safety of patients worldwide and creating trust in the pharmaceutical industry.
Some of the biggest pharma companies already fully implemented aggregation at the same time as serialization, since they knew it would be worth the effort, i.e., improved inventory, rework, and recall process management, among others.
Manufacturers who had only implemented serialization in order to quickly comply with the statutory serialization requirements now need to carefully plan the implementation of aggregation in their facilities. Although the process may be one you are not looking forward to, it is important to keep in mind that aggregation presents numerous long-term benefits.
The aggregation process is meant to facilitate and benefit everyone involved in the supply chain, from the production of medications, all the way to the end consumer. First, the new requirements make it extremely easy to rework packages, meaning that all necessary and important information about the medications will be accessible when scanning the parent. This saves an enormous amount of time, as it will no longer be necessary to open each container to scan each individual child. Since all the data is easily accessible, tracking products throughout the supply chain becomes much easier, and the entire distribution system becomes more efficient, secure and trustworthy.
DSCSA stands for Drug Supply Chain Security Act.
The DSCSA outlines requirements for manufacturers, repackagers, wholesale distributors, dispensers and third-party logistics providers (trading partners). The DSCSA is intended to help protect consumers from exposure to drugs that may be counterfeit, stolen, contaminated or otherwise harmful. The system will also improve detection and removal of potentially dangerous drugs from the drug supply chain to protect U.S. consumers.
The requirements, the development of standards and the system for product tracing have been in place since 2015 and are to be continued until 2023.
Intracompany distributions – Distribution among hospitals under common control – Public health emergencies – Dispensed pursuant to a prescription – Product sample distribution – Blood and blood components for transfusion – Minimal quantities by a licensed pharmacy to a licensed practitioner – Certain activities by charitable organizations – Distributions pursuant to a merger or sale – Certain combination products – Certain medical kits – Certain IV products – Medical gas distribution – Approved animal drugs
The new requirements make it extremely easy to rework packages, meaning that all necessary and important information about the medications will be accessible when scanning the parent. This saves an enormous amount of time, as it will no longer be necessary to open each container to scan each individual child. Since all the data is easily accessible, tracking products throughout the supply chain becomes much easier, and the entire distribution system becomes more efficient, secure and trustworthy.
Not complying with the DSCSA can lead to fines, suspension or revocation of license, and even civil penalties or imprisonment.
OPTEL’s full-stack serialization, aggregation and track-and-trace technologies can help your business comply with all current and future regulations while guiding you through each crucial step toward a more intelligent supply chain.
When you choose OPTEL as your aggregation partner, this is what you get:
OPTEL’s aggregation technologies and expertise help you:
