GenuOne Unveils TraceGuard for Pharmaceuticals, Answers Government's Call for RFID and Barcode based Tracking.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2004

Industry-specific version of innovative middleware platform features offerings for pedigree tracking, returns & recall management, diversion control & anti-counterfeiting and inventory visibility

Responding to the increasing mandate from the federal government, GenuOne, the leading provider of value chain visibility and security solutions, today announced the availability of TraceGuard for Pharmaceuticals, a new version of its unit-level product tracking middleware platform tailored specifically to meet the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry with regard to track-and-trace compliance.

In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called for tracking and tracing of prescription drugs by 2007 as part of the agency's strategy for combating the spread of counterfeit drugs. According to a recent article in Computerworld magazine, the FDA envisions a program under which prescription drug shipments will be assigned unique electronic product codes (EPC) and RFID devices will be used to record data about all supply chain transactions involving the products.

"RFID can save labor costs, manage inventory, slash out-of-stocks, prevent product tampering and counterfeiting, cut invoice deductions, manage product recalls, and halt theft." Source: Kara Romanow, AMR Research Alert, March 24, 2004.

TraceGuard for Pharmaceuticals helps companies achieve value beyond compliance and create a more data-rich supply chain while meeting all the parameters set forth by the FDA.

"Tracking and tracing goods throughout the supply chain is never more critical than in the pharmaceutical market," said Jeffery Unger, President and CEO, GenuOne. "With the TraceGuard for Pharmaceuticals platform, the pharmaceutical industry can apply the benefits of RFID to prevent drug tampering, counterfeiting and improve the recall process."

TraceGuard for Pharmaceuticals addresses the issues at a granular level, featuring the following industry-specific offerings:

Electronic Pedigree Tracking: TraceGuard Pedigree Solution helps prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the legitimate drug supply chain. Each transaction (sale, buy, trade, scrap, return) is electronically tracked in TraceGuard, allowing for a complete chain of custody information to be kept.

Diversion Control and Anti-Counterfeiting Solution: Unique set of security tools ensures both the quality and authenticity of products moving through the supply chain, ultimately providing companies with better control over illegal trafficking and product diversion and helping them avoid dramatic loss in profits. This offering captures drug movement history, pinpointing sources of diversion in the distribution chain. A rule-based exception management layer, meanwhile, flags off unidentified shipment in the supply chain and/or missing units.

Return and Recalls Management: TraceGuard Return and Recalls Solution ensures a precise recall scope when a drug is identified as harmful. The batch distributed can be easily tracked down since its entire pedigree is retrievable. Item-level product lookup enables recall of specific drugs by lot number, serial number, batch number and manufacturing dates while a rule-based event management layer prevents shipping and sale of the recalled product. In addition, business rules monitor return reimbursements.

Inventory Visibility Solution: TraceGuard Inventory Visibility Solution provides unit-level visibility into products throughout a distributed supply chain. Features include an alert on time-sensitive material and finished goods that are about to expire as well as monitoring of all inbound and outbound shipments against business rules.

About GenuOne

GenuOne is the leading provider of visibility and security solutions for both the consumer and technology value chain. The Company's TraceGuard platform is the industry's first unit-level product tracking middleware platform for RFID systems and other tagging technologies, serving industries such as the technology sector, pharmaceutical market and well-known consumer brands. The Company's acclaimed SourceGuard product, meanwhile, is a cost-effective, comprehensive authentication system designed to enable companies to prevent product counterfeiting. GenuOne was founded in 1998 and is privately funded. Investors include Caledonia Capital, Venfin, William Blair & Co. and Delta Asset Management.