Pharmaceutical and GS1
GS1 standards enable the pharmaceutical industry to identify, capture and share information about products, packages and locations along the entire value chain. They are also widely used to track products and deliveries, which contributes to greater patient safety.
Why GS1?
Consumers and patients need accurate and secure information about the products they use. And the challenge of the pharmaceutical industry is to make the supply chain as efficient, safe and sustainable as possible.
GS1 standards for identification have been used for many years and help identify prescription drugs, over-the-counter products, packages and much more. Pharmacies also use different types of barcodes to be able to read goods and deliveries labeled with a barcode or 2D code. In 2019, an EU regulation started to apply that regulates that all prescription drug packaging must be labeled with the 2D barcode GS1 DataMatrix.
Trade item information and images are shared in a seamless flow so that pharmacy chains can provide the very latest information to consumers regardless of sales channel.
Thanks to GS1 standards, pharmacies and their suppliers can increase traceability in their supply chain. Increased control and secure information minimizes the risk of inaccuracies and helps the industry, for example, detect counterfeit products.
Benefits for your business
Sustainability and traceability
Efficient logistics
Regulatory compliance
Standards in use
In your industry, it is common to use a combination of GS1 standards and services. They are used for identification, capturing, sharing and data quality assurance.
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GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) for product identification and outer packaging.
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SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) for pallets and cages.
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EAN-13, EAN-8, ITF-14 and GS1-128 are standards for barcodes.
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RFID to simplify inventory and similar processes.
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QR, GS1 DataMatrix and Data Matrix are standards for 2D barcodes.
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GLN (Global Location Number) for identifying places and parties.
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GDSN is the world’s largest product data network for synchronized data.
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Validoo is a database service for validating and sharing data and images.
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GS1 Trade Item Information for the exchange of digital product information.
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Quality assurance is a service for manual control of data and images.
Toolbox for brand owners
Step-by-step guides with videos, checklists and other resources to get started with GS1 standards and services for the pharmaceutical industry.
