The international pharmaceutical supply-chain consortium Rx-360 has launched in Europe; with more than 135 industry and regulatory representatives attending to discuss the global impact of counterfeit drug products. Attendees also focused on the challenges involved in creating a nonprofit, voluntary consortium that will focus on shared supplier audits and disseminating supply-chain information and standards throughout the world.

The consortium held a US-launch meeting for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, suppliers, and regulators in June 2009 in Washington, DC (USA).

Another European-based initiative from the growing consortium is its new homepage widget, which features a searchable database of suppliers that have been certified by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare (EDQM). Established in 1994, the EDQM program specifically certifies the suitability of the monographs in the European Pharmacopeia to adequately control the quality of a substance from the source.

Pharmaceutical Technology spoke to the director of EDQM, Susanne Keitel, and the head of Rx-360, Martin Van Trieste, among others, as part of a unique roundtable earlier this year. The speakers’ full talks are available as a podcast.

www.rx-360.org