Millipore Integrates RFID Technology with Filtration Products

Billerica, MA (Apr. 13)-Millipore Corporation (www.millipore.com) has become the first company to integrate radio frequency identification (RFID) technology with the filtration products used to manufacture biopharmaceutical drugs.

The new technology, which Millipore has named "SMART" Technology, enables users to quickly retrieve information such as when and how the product was manufactured. When the filters are coupled with sensors, users can also access real-time information about product performance and identify any fluids that were present during the manufacturing process. The information will help ensure regulatory compliance and make recording and conveying manufacturing data faster and more reliable.

Although RFID has long been used by other industries, its use in the pharmaceutical industry has been slower, although there is increasing interest in the technology. RFID offers several benefits over previous labeling methods such as barcodes. Unlike barcodes, RFID does not require a line of site, allowing for nonlinear access to information.  In addition, RFID technology is rewritable and encryptable, difficult to remove, mechanically and thermally stable, and gamma irradiatable.