Sandoz launches its first RFID-tagged critical injectable medicines with Kit Check to optimize supply chain and automate restocking in US hospitals

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sandoz Inc announced today that its first two injectable medicines with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags will be available this month to US hospitals through its collaboration with Kit Check, Inc., a leader in automated medication management solutions for hospitals.

The first two medicines include Anectine 200 mg/10mL and Rocuronium 50mg/5mL and 10mg/5mL (paralytics to relax muscles during surgery or other medical procedures). Several more Sandoz medicines are expected to be made available to Kit Check's hospital partners through early 2021.

"Maintaining inventory of critical medicines is vital for hospitals to effectively treat patients, especially during COVID-19. Several products included in our collaboration with Kit Check are important hospital medicines that physicians rely on for immediate treatment of critically ill patients," said Carol Lynch, President of Sandoz, Inc. "This aligns with our strategy to supplement our ongoing work through disruptive channels to ensure a reliable supply of high-quality injectable medicines makes it to hospital patients who need them."

Through its collaboration with Kit Check, Sandoz will help hospital pharmacies improve efficiency, reduce risk and better support patient treatment in hospitals by providing real-time inventory reports and timely tracking of expiration of products and recalls. This will aid in automatic replenishment of supplies long-term. Especially during a pandemic, ensuring medicines are readily available, in addition to keeping prices stable, is paramount to patient care when healthcare systems are already being challenged and overwhelmed. Both Sandoz and Kit Check are members of the newly formed industry consortium DoseID, launched in August 2020 to ensure standardization and interoperability of RFID in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

Kit Check is a leader in RFID-based medication inventory tracking and automated tray processing in use at more than 500 hospitals in the US and Canada. RFID tags are applied to vials, syringes, bags, and other medication packages and supplies in trays and kits and used to track each medication that passes through the hospital pharmacies. Scanners will automatically identify the products in terms of NDC, lot number, and expiration date, saving time for hospital staff and reducing the risk of medical error. As a result, the pharmacy can see the product's journey from the plant to the point of administration in real time.

Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Neither can there be any guarantee that, if approved, such generic or biosimilar products will be approved for all indications included in the reference product's label. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; competition in general, including potential approval of additional generic or biosimilar versions of such products; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; litigation outcomes, including intellectual property disputes or other legal efforts to prevent or limit Sandoz from selling its products; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases such as COVID-19; safety, quality or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Sandoz
Sandoz, a Novartis division, is a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. Our purpose is to pioneer access for patients by developing and commercializing novel, affordable approaches that address unmet medical needs. Our ambition is to be the world's leading and most valued generics company. Our broad portfolio of high-quality medicines, covering all major therapeutic areas, accounted for 2019 sales of USD 9.7 billion. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany's Greater Munich area.

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SOURCE Sandoz

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