Aegate News

Aegate unveils new multi-purpose pharmacy scanner at British Pharmaceutical Conference

23rd September 2005

Aegate Ltd, a recently formed PA Group Company, will be unveiling the first commercial prototype of its innovative multi-technology, multi-purpose scanner at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester next week.Improving patient safety through combating pharmaceutical fraud, by detecting counterfeit and stolen medicines before they are dispensed, Aegate's service will also permit pharmacists to access real time information and rapid alerts, such as recall notices, to support dispensing decisions.

Ian Rhodes, CEO Aegate commented, "Earlier this year we tested a pilot system in 44 pharmacies across England and Wales. At the end of the 3 month trial period, 100% of the participants wanted to receive the commercial version once available. One in four pharmacists requested to keep using the pilot scanner. These are still being used today".

Available in 2006, the scanning equipment that enables access to Aegate's Authentication at the point of dispensing™ service has been designed specifically for installation in the dispensary. Integrated with existing Patient Management Record (PMR) systems the service will also support Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) and lead to a reduction in picking errors.

PMR providers and Pharmacy Chains in the UK currently undergoing a selection process of suitable ETP token readers need look no further. Designed with dispensing pharmacists very much in mind, this scanner's multi-purpose application means that an authenticity check and identification of picking errors can occur concurrently whilst reading ETP. Work is now underway to adapt this technology for use in other geographic markets.

Aegate's scanner is capable of simultaneously reading RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and barcodes (more than 20 different kinds). As pharmaceutical companies and regulators move towards applying these technologies as a mechanism to improve the authenticity of medicines (known as mass serialisation - a method of uniquely identifying items) pharmacists will be able to dispense products to patients with much more confidence.