LONDON, September 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Results of first hospital pharmacy pilot study by researchers at a UK NHS Teaching
Hospital to be published in European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy
Aegate, the leading experts in medicines authentication, has reinforced its commitment to supporting hospital pharmacies in better understanding of the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) through the support of a pioneering new study at one of the UK's leading hospital trusts.
Based on Aegate's best-in-class authentication technology, the peer-reviewed paper which will be forthcoming from the European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy sets out 12 Good Authentication Practice (GAP(TM)) [http://aegate.com/en/good-authentication-practice-gap ] guidelines for hospital pharmacies on the smooth transition to FMD readiness and facilitate compliance.
Dr David Brindley, the Botnar-Saïd Fellow in Healthcare Translation jointly between University of Oxford's Medical Sciences Division and Saïd Business School and Principal Investigator for the study, said: "Implementation of the FMD in hospital pharmacies is a substantial opportunity to mitigate the real threat of falsified medicines in the legitimate supply chain. The Oxford Pilot represents the first implementation of medicines authentication in secondary care worldwide, and has identified quality systems and working practices required to ensure excellence in medicines authentication that provide important lessons for hospital pharmacists across Europe.
"The GAP(TM) guidelines have been specifically developed with the secondary care setting in mind. It is important to work closely with hospitals to support them as they work to understand the implications of the Directive on their workflows."
Graham Smith, Aegate Commercial Director, commented: "The details of the Delegated Act and the FMD put hospital pharmacists on the front line when it comes to fighting falsified medications. At Aegate we have been working with stakeholders in hospital pharmacies for some time to help them understand the implications of FMD on their operations. The work-flows in hospital pharmacies can be extremely complex and represent heterogeneous environments, getting it right means advanced preparedness is key."
Aegate's best-in-class authentication technology ensures that all medications dispensed to patients are genuine, within the expiry date, and reduces the risk of a recalled product reaching a patient. In addition to inclusion in the European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, the GAP(TM) guidelines will be detailed in the forthcoming Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS) EU Fundamentals of Regulatory Affairs text.
"At Aegate we believe that supporting hospitals and hospital pharmacy associations to understand the implications of the Directive on their operations is critical to successful implementation. We are committed to working with hospital pharmacies across Europe and have already built successful relationships, in Germany in particular. We hope to be able to announce further research pilots in the near future," added Smith.
Aegate will be participating in expopharm in Düsseldorf from 30th September to 3rd October at stand number D-82 in Hall 4.
About Aegate
With a documented history of some 3.5 billion medicines scanned to date with an average rate of 200,000 transactions per hour across 15,000 dispensing points, Aegate is the principal active market leader in medicines verification. Aegate's Reach, Assure and Protect services meets the needs of all stakeholders. Supported internationally by manufacturers and pharmacists alike, Aegate is a European company with offices in Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. Our mission is to protect patients from falsified, recalled or expired medicines.
Aegate operates a highly secure real-time system to verify the authenticity of medicines. This operates seamlessly from manufacturer to pharmacy, and fully meets the requirements of European legislation for falsified medicines. The Aegate network also supports messaging services that provide additional information for the pharmacist at the point of dispense, such as regulatory or drug safety advice and patient education or adherence information.
For more information on Aegate, please visit http://www.aegate.com
CONTACT: For further information please contact: Aegate, Name: SeanO'Connell, T +44 1763 268 160, E prglobal@idbs.com ; Edelman, Name: AlecNewton, T +44 203 047 2140, E alec.newton@edelman.com; aegate@edelman.com
