Tracking and tracing medications to enhance the accessibility of products in the prescription supply chain is not a novel phenomenon. In reality, the concept of serialization has been debated for more than 15 years. In 1999, after a study by the U.S. College of Medicine, President Bill Clinton put patient protection (including avoiding mistakes at the point of dispensing medicines) on the agenda of the federal government and proceeded to advocate for reform after his presidency. In 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required barcoding at unit levels, and in the same year, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a study highlighting the scope of the counterfeit medication problem, claiming that 10% of medicines worldwide were counterfeit. A major shift in serialization took place around 2005 and the variety of countries started to set targets for adoption. However, after making several measures in protecting the supply chain, the challenge was less of a concern after the 2008 financial crisis.
As the world economy has changed, the focus has gradually moved. Turkey adopted serialization standards in 2010 and rules are in effect for other markets such as China, South Korea and India. With the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) coming into force in February 2019 and the U.S. adopting legislation as part of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in November 2017, more than 75% of global medicines are required to be protected by some form of monitor and trace regulations by 2019. The track and trace solutions market is of keen importance in various industries starting from pharmaceutical to medical devices and food and beverages among more.
The progress in demand of track and trace solutions in healthcare facilities is due to stringent laws formulated for serialization and labeling which leads to the lucrative growth of track and trace solutions in the market. The vast product portfolio with enormous options for almost all major industries such as food and beverage, cosmetic and medical devices among more further impels the growth of track and trace solutions in the global track and trace solutions market.
