Prepares California Launch of Unique Pilot Developed in
Conjunction with IBM and VeriSign
VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13,
2006--AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE:ABC) today announced at the
NACDS and HDMA RFID Healthcare Industry Adoption Summit being held
this week in Washington, DC, an innovative Track and Trace Program
that it believes will ultimately benefit the entire pharmaceutical
supply channel. AmerisourceBergen has been a leader in protecting the
integrity of the pharmaceutical supply channel, first by pledging over
one year ago to purchase 100 percent of its pharmaceutical and other
products directly from the product manufacturer, and now by launching
a unique Track and Trace initiative which will utilize RFID and
Electronic Product Code Information System (EPCIS) technology to track
and trace products throughout the entire distribution process.
AmerisourceBergen plans to formally launch the Track and Trace pilot
program at its largest distribution center in California by the end of
2006.
In the pilot, AmerisourceBergen will use IBM's RFID middleware and
embedded software on readers to read RFID tags currently used by
certain pharmaceutical manufacturers as those products enter the
distribution center. The unique product ID from each RFID tag will be
electronically stored in IBM's EPCIS, which will be the platform for
secure electronic communications back to the product's manufacturer.
This secure information exchange will allow AmerisourceBergen and its
trading partners to work collaboratively to share transaction
information and further secure the supply channel.
As new orders come into the AmerisourceBergen distribution center,
the RFID system can monitor product placed in shipping totes as they
move through the picking, packing, and shipping processes. As each
tote leaves the distribution center the EPCIS software will record the
time and location of each unit leaving the premises as well as its
intended destination so that AmerisourceBergen has a complete record
of the history of all RFID tagged drugs.
"The advantage of using the RFID and EPCIS system is that the
information regarding the product's journey through the supply chain
is stored in a manner that is useful for a number of different
applications," said Shay Reid, AmerisourceBergen Vice President for
Integrated Solutions. "Once the RFID tags have been read and the data
has entered the EPCIS, the system can be queried to build a product
pedigree for customers on demand, to provide real time receiving and
shipping information to manufacturers as well as to more closely track
both inventory and product demand."
"With IBM's extensive experience in designing and deploying RFID
solutions, I can say that distributors like ABC will have a great
advantage supporting customers through offering unique track and trace
data," said Paul Chang, RFID/Pharma Executive, IBM Software Group.
"And in an industry that lives depend on, IBM is providing the
technology that will lead to a more efficient, safer, and more secure
supply chain."
The next step in the pilot program will be to connect
AmerisourceBergen's EPCIS directly to other business partner EPCIS
systems and to select pharmaceutical manufacturer systems. In the
first calendar quarter of 2007, VeriSign will provide services to
support the deployment of technology and software necessary to enable
AmerisourceBergen to communicate and authenticate transactions with
its business partners while also providing the capability to query
across multiple EPCIS systems.
Jeff Richards, vice president and general manager of VeriSign
Intelligent Supply Chain Services stated, "AmerisourceBergen's
innovative pilot will create unprecedented, direct electronic data
connectivity to its trading partners. This level of data sharing and
connectivity is a critical step towards allowing the pharmaceutical
industry to trace the historical path of a particular product through
the supply chain, which will add a level of security and efficiency to
the pharmaceutical distribution process."
As AmerisourceBergen tests its Track and Trace pilot program, it
intends to continue to supply electronic pedigrees in the state of
Florida to those wholesale customers that require them under the
state's current drug safety laws. Under the pedigree program,
customers are charged fees that allow the Company to recover the cost
of generating the pedigrees. The Company intends to offer its
nationwide wholesale customers the same electronic pedigree program in
support of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA), which goes into
full effect on December 1, 2006. The PDMA rule requires wholesalers
who are not "authorized distributors of record" to provide a pedigree
showing chain-of-ownership back to the manufacturer when selling the
drugs to pharmacies.
About AmerisourceBergen
AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) is one of the world's largest
pharmaceutical services companies serving the United States, Canada
and selected global markets. Servicing both pharmaceutical
manufacturers and healthcare providers in the pharmaceutical supply
channel, the Company provides drug distribution and related services
designed to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.
AmerisourceBergen's service solutions range from pharmacy automation
and pharmaceutical packaging to pharmacy services for skilled nursing
and assisted living facilities, reimbursement and pharmaceutical
consulting services, and physician education. With more than $61
billion in annual revenue, AmerisourceBergen is headquartered in
Valley Forge, PA, and employs more than 14,000 people.
AmerisourceBergen is ranked #27 on the Fortune 500 list. For more
information, go to www.amerisourcebergen.com.
Forward Looking Statement
This news release may contain certain "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements
are based on management's current expectations and are subject to
uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary
materially from the expectations contained in the forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements herein include statements
addressing management's views with respect to future financial and
operating results and the benefits, efficiencies and savings to be
derived from the Company's integration plan to consolidate its
distribution network. The following factors, among others, could cause
actual results to differ materially from those described in any
forward-looking statements: competitive pressures; the loss of one or
more key customer or supplier relationships; customer defaults or
insolvencies; changes in customer mix; supplier defaults or
insolvencies; changes in pharmaceutical manufacturers' pricing and
distribution policies or practices; adverse resolution of any contract
or other disputes with customers (including departments and agencies
of the U.S. Government) or suppliers; regulatory changes; changes in
U.S. government policies (including reimbursement changes arising from
the Medicare Modernization Act); declines in the amounts of market
share rebates offered by pharmaceutical manufacturers to the
PharMerica Long-Term Care business, declines in the amounts of rebates
that the PharMerica Long-Term Care business can retain, and/or the
inability of the business to offset the rebate reductions that have
already occurred or any rebate reductions that may occur in the
future; any disruption to or other adverse effects upon the PharMerica
Long-Term Care business caused by the announcement of the Company's
agreement to combine the PharMerica Long-Term Care business with the
institutional pharmacy business of Kindred Healthcare, Inc. into a new
public company that will be owned 50% by the Company's shareholders
(the "PharMerica LTC Transaction"); the inability of the Company to
successfully complete the PharMerica LTC Transaction; fluctuations in
market interest rates; operational or control issues arising from the
Company's outsourcing of information technology activities; the
Pharmaceutical Distribution segment's ability to continue to
successfully transition its business model to fee-for-service; success
of integration, restructuring or systems initiatives; fluctuations in
the U.S. dollar - Canadian dollar exchange rate and other foreign
exchange rates; economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory
developments in Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere outside of
the United States; acquisition of businesses that do not perform as we
expect or that are difficult for us to integrate or control; and other
economic, business, competitive, legal, regulatory and/or operational
factors affecting the business of the Company generally. Certain
additional factors that management believes could cause actual
outcomes and results to differ materially from those described in
forward-looking statements are set forth (i) in Item 1 (Business)
under the heading "Certain Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2005 and
elsewhere in that report and (ii) in other reports filed by the
Company pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
CONTACT: AmerisourceBergen
Michael N. Kilpatric, 610-727-7118
mkilpatric@amerisourcebergen.com
or
IBM
Kelly Sims, 917-472-3456
kelly.sims@us.ibm.com
or
VeriSign
Rufus Manning, 703-948-4126
rmanning@verisign.com
SOURCE: AmerisourceBergen Corporation