Why has the industry been so slow to adopt mass serialisation?
Gary Noon: As I have said there has been some good take up in pockets across Europe, but widespread adoption will take time especially since individual stakeholders and countries have to recognise and understand the benefits it will make for their own market and individual needs in order to want to adopt. There are some major stumbling blocks which are having a real impact on adoption such as • Complexity of the pharmaceutical supply chain • Growth in internet and on-line pharmacies, which create unique problems • The continued existence of different technical preferences and infrastructure issues that limit applications on a widespread basis • Inconsistencies in guidelines and funding priorities from federal, NGO and other regulatory bodies • A lack of clarity on ultimate responsibility for patient safety • Financial costs of implementing mass serialisation programmes What is important to note is that while these factors create barriers, they shouldn’t stop or inhibit adoption as work
