October 10, 2008
XStream Systems to Discuss Authentication's Role in Securing Pharmaceutical Security

August 18, 2008
Former Wall Street Investment Banker to Head XStream Systems

XStream Systems a molecular pharmaceutical authentication company headquartered in Sebastian, Florida today announced that is has entered into a pilot program with RDC, Inc.; a member owned pharmaceutical distribution cooperative headquartered in Rochester, New York. RDC will be testing the XT250™ Material Identification System, a sophisticated new technology that identifies the exact molecular structure of a medication inside an unopened package. The purpose of the pilot will be to determine if the technology can best be used to test and identify potentially adulterated or counterfeit product.

According to Larry Doud, CEO of the cooperative there is an ever growing concern about the integrity of the pharmaceutical supply chain in the United States. Doud emphasizes that RDC is an Authorized Distributor of Record, meaning that all product stocked in its warehouse was purchased directly from the manufacturer. Still he says, “Because there are reports of organized crime and other sophisticated organizations working to obtain high value medications and replace them with counterfeit product he has authorized the pilot program.” During the pilot RDC will use the XT250 Material Identification System to scan product with a high incidence of counterfeiting in their order receiving and returned goods procedures.

According to Alan Clock, SVP of XStream the XT250 is a truly unique piece of technology that is finding multiple uses in the pharmaceutical supply chain. “What makes the XT250 so practical is that by using this technology the user can determine if a product inside a sealed package is in fact the medication referenced on the label.” According to Clock this means that product can be tested in real time, by non-scientific personnel in a few seconds all without the need to open the bottle or package it was shipped in.

In further commenting on the pilot Doud indicated he is eager to see the results of the random product tests performed in the warehouse, but he indicates he does not expect to find any counterfeit or adulterated product because of the care his organization takes in ordering, storing and shipping product. Doud says “We are honored to have been selected by XStream to participate in this test and look forward to helping them see how their unit performs in a real world application.” Clock says XStream selected RDC for the test because “The type and variety of product RDC ships on a daily basis will provide us with the data elements we need to refine and improve the functionally of the XT250.”

Clock further indicates that as the data from the pilot program become available they will be sharing it with the industry at an upcoming industry symposium on Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Diversion Strategies as well as with other industry leaders. According to Clock the pharmaceutical industry has spent millions of dollars over the past several years to find ways to product the integrity of the supply chain and that much of these efforts have revolved around radio frequency identification (RFID) chips that are embedded with serial numbers and other identifying codes. But, Clock says one problem with RFID or any type of sensor based solution is that they only look at the package, not the product. The true benefit of the XT250 is that it looks at the material inside the container and can determine not only if it is legitimate, but if it has been adulterated or tampered with. Clock says XStream is indebted to RDC for its willingness to donate space, time, labor and senior management support to this pilot.

XStream Systems will be presenting at an Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Diversion conference on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 in Vienna, Virginia.

The conference entitled “The Center for Business Intelligence (CBI) Premier Forum on Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Diversion Strategies," is geared toward the pharmaceutical industry preparing for pending federal legislation and combating illicit trade by implementing security measures and tracking systems.

“Alan Clock, Sr. Vice President Sales & Marketing , and John Lundquist, Vice President of Sales/Business Development, will be speaking on authentication technologies and their role in securing the pharmaceutical supply chain.

“Recent threats to our global food and drug supply have been a wake up call to tighten our supply security.  We feel honored to discuss authentication’s role in regulatory, manufacturing, distribution, and dispensing marketplaces.” stated Alan Clock, SVP of XStream Systems.  “Authentication along with other methods presented at the conference such as law enforcement, track and trace, and legislation will allow the attendees to have a major influence in shaping the protection of the medications on which we all rely.”

XStream Systems presented its unique authentication technology at the National Coalition of Pharmaceutical Distributors 3rd Annual Meeting in Las Vegas on August 12th. The NCPD meeting was held in conjunction with the Pharmacy Purchasing Outlook Meeting held at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Alan Clock, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and John Lundquist, Vice President of Sales and Business Development, introduced XStream Systems’ revolutionary authentication technology which allows a pharmaceutical distributor to verify the contents of individual units of sale, inside its sealed container. XStream’s solution allows distributors to authenticate products in both the receiving and returns functions. This process of verification allows the individual or corporate entity to properly secure itself from adulterated, contaminated or counterfeit medications.

“This was a great opportunity to meet with a critical component of the domestic pharmaceutical supply chain” stated Clock. “NCPD members have largely been excluded from the regulatory debate which has left them disadvantaged by the current solutions of Track and Trace technologies. Our authentication technology exceeds the functionality of Track and Trace, but does not rely on a complex transactional process. This is a perfect solution for the average NCPD member.”

XStream Systems, Inc., a material identification company specializing in pharmaceutical authentication announced that Philip A. Odeen, a leader in the National Defense Industry, has been elected to their Board of Directors.

Mr. Odeen served as President/CEO of BDM and Chairman/CEO of TRW, companies that were leaders in the defense market. Earlier, he served in senior positions under the Nixon administration for the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council. He was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and later worked directly under Henry Kissinger. In 1997, William Cohen, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, selected Odeen to chair the National Defense Panel. In 2003, Phil Odeen became a member of Northrop Grumman's board of directors. Phil has served as Chairman of several companies, including Reynolds & Reynolds, Convergys, Avaya, and AES.

“Mr. Odeen’s presence, expertise, and experience will be an invaluable asset to our Board as XStream Systems pushes forward to enhance public safety for our nation,” stated Brian Mayo, CEO and President.

XStream Systems, Inc. announced today that it is scheduled to present at an Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Diversion conference which will be held on October 20 -21, 2008 in Vienna, Virginia.

The Center for Business Intelligence (CBI) has organized an annual conference to examine this extremely topical and important issue near the nation’s capitol.

The program of the conference is focused on preparing industry thought leaders for pending Federal Legislation and in the discussion of combating the illicit trade of pharmaceuticals by implementing security measures and tracking system.  XStream will be presenting a break out titled; Materials Authentication and Verification within the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain:  Working with and Moving Beyond Track and Trace.

“We are excited about discussing the alternative solutions that work with and go beyond the capabilities of Track and Trace technologies to a group of influential industry stakeholders, “stated Alan Clock, SVP of XStream Systems.  “No one product or solution will totally protect the global and domestic drug supply, the attendees of this conference will have a major influence in shaping the protection of the medications on which we all rely.”

To find out more about the CBI Conference or XStream Systems, visit the sites below: http://cbinet.com/show_conference.cfm?confCode=PC08089

XStream Systems, Inc. announced the addition of Pat Earl, an Executive Business Strategist, as a consultant on business strategy for medication safety improvement in the pharmaceutical supply chain.  XStream Systems, Inc.’s corporate office is located in Sebastian, Florida. 

Pat has over twenty-two years of pharmaceutical distribution sales and operations experience and will be located in the Midwest. She brings in-depth knowledge of all facets of the pharmaceutical wholesale industry as well as institutional communications, Group Purchasing Organization relations and strategic development activities for hospitals and retail clients.  During her tenure with two of the nation's largest pharmaceutical supply chain providers, she developed innovative and creative business strategies that enhanced sales revenues and increased market share. 

“Pat has shown an exceptional blend of sales and operational success in developing and managing tactical and strategic relationships across the Pharmaceutical Industry, “stated Alan Clock, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.  “She has served in a number of industry capacities that focused on improving medication distribution and eliminating unsafe practices in the supply chain.  Her contributions will be invaluable in our growth.”

A pharmaceutical authentication company is now selling equipment which can verify drug ingredients outside of a laboratory. XStream Systems, Inc. offers a unit which can read the molecular structure of medicines without having to open any packaging or break a bottle’s seal.

 Named the XT250 System, its underlying technology was originally developed to protect the public from terrorist threats, but has since found its role in the pharmaceutical industry.  It can tell if a drug is counterfeit, altered, contaminated, or otherwise different on a molecular level from its intended form.  

“This unit is of great benefit when dealing with drugs or ingredients from questionable sources, such as what we’ve seen from China in the recent Heparin incident,” stated John Lundquist, VP of Business Development for XStream Systems. “The fact it can test drugs when they are still in the manufacturer’s packaging makes the system even more valuable to companies trying to keep their outbound shipments clean.”

The XT250 System is currently being used at multiple locations in the pharmaceutical supply network, checking inventories for dangerous products.

A four part opinion series of articles on supply chain liability within the pharmaceutical industry is now available to the public. The write-up covers how each segment of the US drug supply network questions where counterfeit drug liability lies.

Alan Clock, a 20 year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry, authored the series. “Nobody wants to be responsible for a passing on, ultimately to the consumer, counterfeit or fake medications,” Clock said. “The current reality is that every member of the pharmaceutical supply chain should be responsible and do everything possible to protect the public. Those members who haven’t adopted or embraced new technologies to authenticate or protect their inventories will appear as the weak link and be very vulnerable to those with a nefarious intent and liability.”

The final installment of the series covers a new piece of equipment which is being offered as a solution to mitigate risk within the pharmaceutical industry. The XT250 Authentication System from XStream Systems, Inc. verifies pharmaceuticals at a crystalline level and while in their original sealed packaging. The equipment can assist manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and dispensers when having to defend themselves over products which left their facilities.

The series can be viewed at

http://securepharmachain.blogspot.com/2008/03/opinion-series-1-of-4-who-is-liable.html

XStream Systems, Inc. is scheduled to present their technology and pharmaceutical industry applications at a symposium in Orlando, Florida. The Seventh Pharmaceutical Powder X-Ray Diffraction Symposium (PPXRD-7) will take place February 25-28, 2008 at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center.

Contributing scientists from XStream Systems include Noureddine Anibou and Charles Dozier.  The title of the oral presentation to be given is “EDXRD Probe for Pharmaceutical Verification.” While speaking, Dr. Anibou will discuss the importance of pharmaceutical verification and give an explanation of XStream Systems’ technology and its documented accuracy rates.

“I’m looking forward to present this unique application of EDXRD technology,” stated Dr. Anibou. “The XT250 Pharmaceutical Authentication System has proven itself time and again in accurately verifying solid state drugs.”

The PPXRD-7 event is one of many scheduled appearances by XStream Systems’ scientists at x-ray diffraction conferences across the nation.

To view a .pdf of the presentation, click here.