Essay Sample on Pharmaceutical Industry and Information Technology Systems

Introduction

The pharmaceutical industry has recorded an increased growth over the past years with the introduction of technology in the sector to assist in the operation. Studies show that the adjustment of technology at the distribution channel has enhanced efficiency in the pharmaceutical sector with a positive effect on the service level delivery and the cost of distribution. Essentially, the move has not only increased drug accessibility, but it has also influenced growth of the industry. Today, technology in pharmacy is popular with the e-prescribing taking effective more than a decade ago.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

According to Modern Medicine Network (2016), Content Management Standards (CMS) published the initial set of approved standards that applied to e-prescribing contained in the Medicare Modernization Act. Between 2008 and 2014, the pharmacy industry realized an increase in the number of e-prescribing doctors who utilized an electronic health record (EHR). Estimates from the office of the National Coordinator for Health information Technology showed that the percentage of these doctors increased from around 7% to approximately 70% despite being the inception of the industry (Modern Medicine Network, 2016). Currently, the pharmaceutical sector uses information exchange through computerized physician order entry, early authorization, Electronic health records, automated medication identification, drug bar-coding, robotic dispensaries and drug verification.

Dong & (Yang, 2015) determined that e-prescribing and bar-coding assures safety by preventing prescription errors, overdosing and contraindicated drugs. These errors sometimes may go unnoticed if a physician applies manual approach. Only a computerized system with embedded criteria can detect some of the clinical errors. An example of a computerized system in this case is ''smart'' infusion bumps which contain a program that helps in establishing a library of medications to prevent patient injury and errors (Antoniolli, 2016). The objective of this study was to find out the impact of adoption of technology on service delivery, drug distribution and overall growth of the industry.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Novartis is a global pharmaceutical company located in Basel, Switzerland. It was founded in 1996 from a merger between Ciba-Geiby and Sandoz (Reuters). Today, the corporation is one the leading pharmaceutical organizations with the most exciting product pipelines in the industry. The mission of the company is to discover new ways to improve and extend the lives (Novartis Annual Report, 2017). Focused majorly on healthcare; Novartis offers a wide range of portfolios to attain the needs of innovative medicines, diagnostic tools, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, and consumer health products. With this diversity, the company provides healthcare solutions that addressed the needs of patients and societies across the globe. Most importantly, the corporation employs science-based innovation to handle most of the challenging health concerns in the society (Antoniolli, 2016). As part of the solution to healthcare services, Novirtis manufactures drugs like letrozole, clozapine, terbinafine, carbamazepine, imatinib, methylphenidate, diclofenac, and ciclosporin (Reuters). These products are sold in over 155 countries (Novartis Annual Report, 2017). Studies show that by 2017, the drugs have reached more than one billion people worldwide.

Production and Distribution of Novartis Product

According to Antoniolli (2016), research and development work concurrently to bring new and quality drugs in the market. This process occurs in two phases. The first stage is known as an ''exploratory phase'' that allows the discovery of a candidate compound and a proof of concept by studying a patient. In this phase, the physicians and scientists from the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR) work together to move compounds through initial tests (Novartis). This process is accompanied by the development function that guides confirmatory trials and the course of receiving approval.

Apparently, all the efforts of drug discovery concentrate on patients. As Antoniolli, (2016) puts, manufacturing a drug starts with determining targets which are proteins connected to human disease. When physicians confirm that target is the cause of the disease, they carry out a high-throughput screen experiment to identify a chemical compound that hits the target. After discovering a chemical compound, the hits are triggered to facilitate their safety (Novartis). The remaining chemical compound then becomes a drug candidate.

The second stage is the confirmatory phase where the products develop fully after conducting research in a large population of patients (Novartis). Trials are conducted by giving this population the drug. The purpose of the trials is to find out the suitable dose, test the effectiveness of the drug and assess its safety. If a dug passes the trial, then the scientists recommend its registration. The registration process requires the experts to first compile the findings of all preclinical and clinical research alongside the description of the manufacturing procedure (Reuters). These requirements are submitted to the regulatory authority for approval. If the authority is satisfied that the drug meets quality, efficacy and safety, they will allow marketing of the product. The drug is then distributed to across the world.

Nature of Business

Novartis is a public Swiss holding company that functions in association with the Novartis Group. It owns all subsidiary firms across the world. The company's business is organized into three functional departments namely; Pharmaceuticals, Sandoz and Alcon (Reuters). Each of the subsidiary countries around the globe fall under the three mentioned divisions. Novartis expects its subsidiaries to actively operate in the following disciplines: production, finance and research. Reuters reported that Novartis holds approximately 32.9% of the shares of Roche Holding Company. Additionally, Novartis owned about 25% of Idenix Pharmaceuticals before it sold it to Merck & Co (Novartis). Studies also reveal that Novartis has a license agreement with Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche. The organization also has a multi-functional center in India to support its research and development activities with the intent of supporting administrative functions and improving clinical procedures.

Information Technology in Novartis Pharmaceutical Company

Novartis participate extensively in research and development and technology innovation. These practices are likely to boost the company operations. With the advancement of technology, Novartis has been striving to ensure that its instrumentations and pipelines are updated to ensure maximum efficiency and productivity. As a manufacturing company in the pharmaceutical sector, one of the technology systems that Novartis should adopt is Radio Frequency Identifications (RFID). Research indicated that RFID is an important business and technology tool that can improve the operation of Novartis.

This technology seems to replace existing technology methods such as barcode. According to Zare Mehrjerdi (2010), businesses may benefit from RFID because the device can track inventory, monitor company's assets, and provide real-time in transit visibility (ITV). Potdar, Chang, & Potdar (2006) outlined that Novartis requires assurance of accurate identification of certain materials such as finished pharmaceutical products, raw and packaging materials. This recognition is needed at any stage of the firm's performance including manufacturing of drugs and distribution operations. As such, RFID is the best choice for these processes. The following sections discuss why RFID can be important in Novartis Company.

Application of RFID in Novartis Company

Food and Drug Administration divisions (FDA) throughout the world always want to determine the right recognition the exact materials used in the manufacture of medicinal drugs and other products (Potdar, Chang, & Potdar, 2006). They often demand physical proof for every parameter. However, today, the organization does not insist on a specific technology to enhance this process. RFID appears to be a good choice to address this challenge. It is projected that FDA is likely to enforce the implementation of this technology in the production and distribution of medicinal drugs and any pharmaceutical product (Antoniolli, 2016). Therefore, Novartis should apply NFID due to the reasons discussed below.

Management of Inventory and Warehouse

Novartis handles various materials which makes identity and stock management significant activities in the organization. Since there are various categories of materials handled, identifying them and tracking their movements becomes critical for the management of the pharmaceutical unit (Modern Medicine Network, 2016). It is hard to track all such materials in a big organization like Novartis without appropriate mechanism. However, with RFID technology, inventory and warehouse management becomes easy. RFID may be effective in tracing entry and exit of raw materials and finished products in a warehouse. As Antoniolli (2016) puts, it is imperative to identify all materials deposited in Novartis' pharmaceutical unit by name of the product, supplier, and manufacturer as well as quantity, batch numbers and manufacturing date.

In this case, the application of RFID in the mentioned processes will enhance easy identification and tracking. For instance, assuming each arriving container is mounted with a RFID tag to recognize the manufacturers and the suppliers. Probably, it will influence easy track, and also certify that the product has arrived from an authorized vendor (Dong & Yang, 2015). The function of the RFID tags is to validate the production and maintain quality assurance by indicating that the process uses only approved materials. If RFID tags are maintained on flexible end products, it will push for the repair of automatic track of all materials exiting the pharmaceutical unit (Potdar, Chang, & Potdar, 2006). The advantage of this is that the tags will assist in maintaining the right stock of all the finished products.

In the same context of management of inventory and warehouse, Antoniolli (2016) determined that RFID is useful in smart shelf and smart search. Smart shelf, in simple terms, refers to ''shelves that know what they carry'' implying that they can be traced from a distance. As such, RFID technology is the solution to smart shelving and searching since it can uniquely identify all shelves in a warehouse using the tags (Zare Mehrjerdi, 2010). Each unique position of the shelf could then be associated with a palette to direct a new consignment to a suitable place within the warehouse if it arrives. Because RFID technology can keep track of the empty shelf space, the entire process can be automated.

Access Control

Novartis pharmaceutical company does a lot of activities and operations conducted by many people. Some of the operations are confidential, and should only be accessed to authorized individuals. So, there is need to maintain privacy in any confidential activity. To address this issue, there has to be a system that provides selective access to prevent the projects from falling in the wrong hands. RFID may provide a solution since it can restrict access (Zare Mehrjerdi, 2010). One area in Novartis pharmaceutical where RFID can be applied for access control is sterile product processing. Potdar, Chang, & Potdar (2006) defined sterile products as items that are free from pathogens. This area is restricted in the pharmaceutical unit. The area only allows authorized people...