Linked Labeling: Maximizing Content Management Complexity?

Content management is becoming a burden for the life science industry when it comes to labeling. The interdependency of all the phases has a negative impact on the revenue, the rate of sales, market entrance and often leading to rejection of registrations. A minor change in any one of the phase be it manufacturing, regulatory, safety or even supply chain would need the entire label to be changed. Moreover, a country-specific tracking system for labeling is unavailable leaving the records to be updated manually. Now it has become a necessity to resolve these issues and in this paper, we would be highlighting all such possible remedies.

EFFICIENT COMPLEXITY MANAGEMENT

Complexity arises when the source of interdependency remains unknown. It is obvious that one nation is dependent on the other for certain labeling conventions but it becomes difficult to trace particularly which two nations are interdependent and for what reason. It is really necessary to keep a track of all these details as the changes in labeling are generally country-specific and they may arise at any point all through the drug cycle. A single change, maybe about the risk or benefit will result in a series of changes all through the labeling cycle. There would be a change to the core data and at the same time, there would be some changes in the labeling patterns of the markets dependent on these. So it is always necessary to remember that labeling content management can be ensured by catering to the changes on time.

PORTAL CREATION TO MINIMIZE COMPLEXITY

This is an innovative approach that Life Science organizations have initiated to cut complexity. The sole intent of such portals is to enable data exchange at the global and local levels. It is thought that through these portals, all the international labeling units would be able to collaborate. This collaboration would ensure that they are well informed about the changes that are being implemented on the global and local scale. In addition to this, it would make it clear that the changes in labels are done within the stipulated time without hampering the entire procedure. The major setback to this is that the updates that are being done on the portal are manual and there are high chances of repetition.

Portal creation is not the ultimate solution to this issue of pharma labeling complexity because it does not ensure end-to-end tracking. It order to attain more safety and lesser risks, it is necessary that all the product details with regards to labeling and the changes should be tracked accordingly. In order to improve the process of labeling by minimizing complexity, the creation of portals is not enough. It is really necessary to have an organized system that will not only track all the changes that are being made in the regulations but will also ensure that this information gets relayed to all the member countries.

GETTING FUTURE READY

In order to cope with the rapid changes in the field of life science, the system of labeling needs upgrading. Certain organizations are already on the move and they have almost prepared their change programs with a timeline of 3-5 years. The main aim of this change is to create a system that would be transparent, connected at all level and even provide a holistic solution. The creation of the central master data would ensure that keeping a track of everything else would become easier. This data tracks the impact that a change in label might have and also helps in ascertaining the interdependencies. Moreover, this process is less time consuming and involves a lesser manual process and offers greater collaboration within supply chains, across departments and on a cross-country basis.

In this situation of transformation, the complexity arising out of connected labeling will sustain. Still the initiatives that are being taken by the labeling firms are quite apt as they make accession of a huge amount of data possible globally. It is yet to reach the ideal scenario where cross-functionality would be necessary. The introduction of a program that would be catering to all the labeling needs should include the necessary details, the changed regulations, list of the interdependent countries and even the changes undertaken by the major global organizations. All these would make sure that the level of complexity associated with connected labeling will get reduced.