Aegate Ltd, the pharmaceutical authentication company, in preparation for an imminent launch of its service in Belgium, announced today a collaboration agreement has been reached with L’Association Pharmaceutique Belge (APB), the professional pharmacy association that represents 90% of independent pharmacies in Belgium. The collaboration will see Belgium become the first country in the world to pioneer an innovative new patient safety system.
Aegate's award-winning, innovative authentication service creates a secure, on-line, direct communication link between each pharmaceutical manufacturer and each pharmacy. This creates a closer relationship that prevents patients from inadvertently receiving substandard medicines or recalled items. In standalone trials that have taken place in the USA and the UK, pharmacists have uniformly reported that the system’s real-time safety alerts are extremely useful. One US pharmacist said: “We got the recall on Diovan the day we were going to dispense - two days before we received it in the mail !” Commenting on the UK experience, a senior pharmacist, said: "The extra checking step has increased our confidence that the selected item is both correctly dispensed and genuine."
The collaboration gives APB access to specific areas of the secure system so that they can input important product information, such as recalls. Dirk Broeckx, Secretary General, APB commented: "We are proud that Belgium is the first country to adopt product authentication within the pharmacy. The pharmacist is the final stage before a medicine is dispensed to the patient and APB has always focused on guaranteeing product quality. Therefore we are very happy that our collaboration with Aegate gives Belgian pharmacists important opportunities to enhance the professional value of the pharmacist in the interest of patient safety."
In Belgium, Aegate's system has been fully integrated inside the pharmacy software which, for the pharmacist, means there is no additional step required to the dispensing process. Software provider Farm@d has been the first company to carry out the integration work and the system is currently being rolled out. It will be on display at the Farma 2006 trade show in Brussels later this week.
Johan Galle, Managing Director of Farm@d, commented: "Farm@d prides itself on bringing value added services to our pharmacists. We see that Aegate has something truly innovative and beneficial for pharmacy and are delighted to be the first company in Belgium to provide this to our customers."
Gary Noon, CEO Aegate, comments: “L'Association Pharmaceutique Belge is leading the world in ensuring the authenticity of medicines prescribed in Belgium. Aegate has developed the system around the pharmacist so that it is fully integrated into pharmacy dispensing processes. This innovation adds significantly to patient care in Belgium."
Aegate expects that as much as 15% of the volume of prescription medicines sold in Belgium will be subject to protection by authentication before year end, with the percentage rapidly increasing as new pharmacies and additional medicines come on line in 2007. The service will be extended into new markets beyond Belgium in 2007 onwards.
One of the pioneering pharmaceutical companies that has already achieved additional protection of its products by registering them with Aegate is Lilly. Managing Director Andrew Hodge commented: “We welcome the opportunity to work proactively and more closely with our pharmacists in support of patient care, giving both pharmacists and patients an added level of confidence in our brands."
Gary Noon concludes: "We have introduced advances that now make instantaneous safety updates for patients possible. This is a true step forward for improving pharmaceutical services to the patient”.
