Axiom Label Group continually seeks to educate clients on emerging technologies and new packaging requirements affecting the pharmaceutical industry. In an effort to decrease the number of counterfeit drugs entering the country's supply chain, the state of California will soon require manufacturers to serialize packages in order to be able to track the authenticity of every item produced. Compact barcodes, such as the GS1 Datamatrix, Stacked Codes, Aztec and QR codes have gained popularity among pharmaceutical companies as a means of encoding significant amounts of item level data in a small amount of space. Pre-encoding serialized labels is gaining popularity among companies seeking to reduce the impact of serialization on their business and packaging systems.  Axiom Label Group can help explain how emerging global standards, including California's pedigree law, can be implemented without the high cost and disruption offered by software and hardware solution vendors.

2D barcodes can be encoded with significant amounts of data which is critical when space is limited. Most emerging global traceability standards include 2 or more of the following be listed on item-level packaging: global trade item number (GTIN), national drug code, packaging batch or lot code, expiration date, and unique serial number up to 20 alphanumeric characters.

These unique item-level codes help pharmaceutical companies be in compliance with FDA mandates for pharmaceutical authentication and traceability of each unit produced.  Traceability is increasingly important due to FDA pressure to improve the drug recall process. 

Pre-encoded labels also reduce packaging line update costs by allowing the labels to be used on most existing label application systems. Rather than creating an entirely new label as data requirements emerge, companies can easily create 2D barcodes to be affixed to current packaging to ensure compliance as regulations change. Axiom Label Group can demonstrate how pre-encoded serialized labels may be used with existing systems used to print LOT and expiration and how the pre-encoded tracking information can be aggregated for traceability and e-Pedigree business systems.