TruTag launches reader for pharma authentication

TruTag Technologies has launched a new portable optical reader for authenticating solid oral dose medicines marked with the firm's proprietary silica microtags.

The company says its "covert, "edible bar codes" provide product security and tracking solution at the dosage level, rather than on packaging, "so that manufacturers can authenticate medicine directly on a pill with the ability to confirm the product strength, batch number, site of manufacture and expiration date, among other product information". 

TruTag's microtags are Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are made from materials already used in pharmaceutical coatings or to aid the flowability of powders and granulations.

Last year, the FDA published final guidance the use of physical-chemical identifiers (PCIDs) as on-dose authentication measures which provides "a strong framework for pharmaceutical manufacturers to begin implementing PCIDs in solid oral dosage form drug products", it added.

The new optical reader has been officially launched at the Seventh Global Forum on Pharmaceutical AntiCounterfeiting and Diversion, which is currently ongoing in Washington DC.