News and Media: Latest 10 News Items

According to a recent informal poll of Healthcare Packaging (HCP) readers, half the respondents agreed that packaging should enter the stream at the beginning of the clinical trial. An encouraging number, considering the metamorphosis the primary package will likely undergo as the drug formulation continues to change during the course of the trial.

While some companies may be actively seeking the value proposition of RFID implementation, others have discovered that the value proposition already exists in applications utilizing active RFID.

The purpose of this website is to present the status of development of a wide variety of portable electronic medication monitors that could be used to supervise the self-administered treatment of tuberculosis and perhaps AIDS. The discussion includes both commercially available devices and various designs of potential medication monitors, to allow investigators and funding sources to chose the optimal device for their needs and encourage inventors to develop improvements.

Guidelines for Temperature Control of Drug Products during Storage and Transportation

Med-ic ECM technology records patient adherence to correlate critical bloodwork

Med-ic RFID smart sensor labels will monitor over 250,000 doses in a large Phase II clinical trial to be conducted in Europe over the next 6 months. IMC has already delivered 6,000 self-adhesive smart labels to Aptuit, the study’s packaging supplier.

IDTechEx staged its annual conference on Active RFID and Real Time Locating Systems RTLS in Dallas USA 5-6 December. Delegates at over 240 and exhibitors at 20 were again sharply up, reflecting this prosperous and innovative industry. Here we look at aspects relevant to printed electronics. Passive RFID is most amenable to being totally printed because, in most cases, the logic consists of just a memory chip. However, although printing the microprocessors commonly used in active RFID is probably ten years off, the opportunity to print the antennas, sensors, interconnects and batteries is much closer. The primary motivation is to make these devices thinner, flexible and lower in cost.

The Solution: Med-ic Electronic Compliance Monitors give accurate and accountable data from clinical studies

"This is the first study to ask the question, 'Are we gaining ground or losing ground in drug safety and improving patient safety in prescription drugs?' And I think, inescapably, the conclusion is that we're losing ground," said study lead author Thomas Moore, of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, in Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

"This is a subject the public or health professionals just don't like to think about," Moore added. "Doctors don't like to think that what they're doing could be hurting patients. The pharmaceutical industry wants the public focused on benefits, and many people just want to believe this drug is going to help them. We need to focus on this problem. We can manage the risks of prescription drugs if we start to pay attention."

In this article, the author examines the growth of the RFID industry, and the increasing applications and benefits of this system of monitoring.

A slew of new technologies, ranging from RFID and printed electronics, through shape memory alloys to novel battery and display technologies, is enabling a new kind of packaging: smart packaging. Smart packaging relies on the use of chemical, electrical, electronic, or mechanical technology, or any combination of them to add numerous features and functions to packaging.

Smart packaging opens up new opportunities for enhancing inventory tracking, product safety and security, user friendliness and brand enhancement. Its impact is already being felt now in packaging for sectors as diverse as retailing, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, military and toys. The use of smart packaging is also being pushed forward by changes in demographics and environmental concerns.

The report analyzes the market from all perspectives including materials suppliers, technology providers, printers and converters, product manufacturers and retailer/distributors. Companies mentioned in the report include:

* 3M
* Aveso
* Campbell
* Coca Cola
* CSIRO
* Cypak
* DuPont
* DHL
* Duracell
* Heinz
* IBM
+ Information Mediary
* Intel, Konarka
* Marks & Spencer
* MeadWestvaco
* PowerPaper
* Proctor and Gamble
* pSivida
* Wal-Mart