GE patents anti-counterfeit system for bioprocessing kit

Reports about counterfeiting in the pharma industry generally involve fake medicines, but it seems drugmakers also need to keep a close eye on their production equipment.

GE Healthcare has been awarded a US patent on a radiofrequency identification (RFID) based system "to detect illegal manufacturing and prevent unauthorized operation of disposable bioprocess components," particularly those used in sterile processes.

Some suppliers are already tagging products such as filter cartridges with RFID tags, but these are generally used to monitor the condition of the unit and determine whether it needs to be replaced.

An abstract for the patent appears below:

Method for preventing an unauthorized use of disposable bioprocess components

Abstract: This invention provides a system and apparatus that is able to authenticate and prevent illegal manufacturing and unauthorized operation of disposable bioprocess components. This invention utilizes a ferro-electric random access memory chip (FRAM) chip to store error-correctable information on a RFID tag attached to the disposable bioprocess components, where the error-correctable information is written in sequence into the memory chip, so that the redundant information can remain in the chip when the RFID tag and disposable bioprocess component is gamma-sterilized. Also, this invention includes a method for authenticating the disposable bioprocess component that reduces liability in that a counterfeit poor quality disposable component is not used on the hardware so the user will not file an unjustified complaint.

US Patent No. 9,373,008