CRANBURY, N.J., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- SYSTECH International, the pharmaceutical industry's premier provider of packaging efficiency and product safety solutions, today announced that its TIPS Serialized Product Tracking solution has been selected by AstraZeneca as part of a broad global initiative that addresses authentication and combats counterfeiting of pharmaceutical drugs.

In a sweeping effort to increase patient safety and combat counterfeit drug products, AstraZeneca will add 2D Data Matrix Bar-Code Serialization into its strategic product security initiatives. This initiative will allow AstraZeneca's internal resources to more readily investigate suspect product in the marketplace and eventually empower both supply chain partners and consumers to authenticate products.

The initiative is a multi-phase project designed to protect key AstraZeneca brands wherever they are manufactured and distributed throughout the world. The first two phases of the project include enabling 25 packaging lines across 12 worldwide sites.

Ultimately, this will enable AstraZeneca to improve patient safety, ensure product authenticity, and brand integrity. The company has initiated a unilateral approach to implement a flexible platform solution that will allow them to anticipate and adapt as industry standards emerge.

"SYSTECH has substantial experience in helping pharmaceutical manufacturers ensure the quality, safety, and security of their products and supply chain," said Ian Haynes, principle pharmaceutical engineer, AstraZeneca. "The inclusion of the TIPS Serialized Product Tracking solution provides us with a scalable, proven solution that allows AstraZeneca to meet changing market requirements and effectively respond to global product security challenges."

"Pharmaceutical counterfeiting is a growing global concern that is increasingly difficult to address," said David DeJean, SYSTECH director of global PPM sales. "The introduction of global serialized product tracking enables e-Pedigree, authentication, and tracking and tracing product worldwide. SYSTECH is proud to work with AstraZeneca to help secure the supply chain and thwart counterfeiting."

TIPS Serialized Product Tracking is part of SYSTECH's comprehensive suite of machine vision inspection, packaging line automation, and information management solutions. Currently used by pharmaceutical manufacturers worldwide, TIPS Serialized Product Tracking supplies mass serialization of products at the item, case, and pallet level to facilitate e-Pedigree, authentication, and track and trace operations. This serialization, using Electronic Product Codes (EPCs) on RFID enabled labels and bar codes, is done on the packaging line and is integrated with existing packaging operations.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of $23.95 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infection products. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.

About SYSTECH International

Founded in 1985, SYSTECH International is a global provider of packaging efficiency and product safety solutions in the pharmaceutical industry. The powerful combination of SYSTECH's products and services provide companies with complete control over packaging processes along with the actionable intelligence required to continuously improve packaging performance. By partnering with SYSTECH, companies can leverage an agnostic, scaleable architecture, to deliver significant improvements at the line, plant and enterprise levels. For more information about their company and products, please visit http://www.systech-tips.com/.

Contact: Joseph Costa SYSTECH International 609.235.8408 josephcosta@systech-tips.com

CONTACT: Joseph Costa, SYSTECH International, +1-609-235-8408,
josephcosta@systech-tips.com

Web site: http://www.systech-tips.com/