Electronic Tracking and Radio Frequency Identification Expected to Deliver Added Layer of Safety in Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, Cardinal Health Says

Electronic Tracking and Radio Frequency Identification Expected to Deliver Added Layer of Safety in Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, Cardinal Health Says

Accuracy Rates of Technology Must Reach Near-100 Percent Levels For Effective Adoption

DUBLIN, Ohio, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following its participation today in the Florida Department of Health Electronic Pedigree Rule Development Workshop, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH), the leading provider of products and services supporting the health care industry, said that it strongly backs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) as an added layer of security for the pharmaceutical supply chain and is committed to working with the industry to achieve accuracy rates as close to 100 percent as possible.

As a leader in medication and patient safety, Cardinal Health has participated in a number of RFID initiatives designed to improve safety measures in the pharmaceutical supply chain. In addition, the company's broad health care offerings address patient safety with products and services such as Alaris(R) intravenous infusion pumps, Pyxis(R) medication automation products, CardinalASSIST(R) logistics and replenishment program and Tiburon(TM) surgical drapes designed to prevent infection.

"Electronic tracking is the most viable approach to deliver additional levels of security in the pharmaceutical supply chain and improve inventory management," said Gary Dolch, executive vice president of Global Quality and Regulatory Affairs for Cardinal Health. "However, the industry must be diligent in improving the accuracy of read rates to as close to 100 percent as possible in order to enable widespread adoption. We can not afford anything less when it comes to the product safety."

The RFID technology places electronic tags with tiny radio tracking devices on packages to trace their movement through the supply chain. The future of RFID will allow for more rapid recalls and will improve distribution efficiencies while helping pharmaceutical companies throughout the supply chain better manage their inventories.

Cardinal Health was a member of an industry pilot program called JumpStart. Other program participants included pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and retailers. The pilot was led by Accenture. The first phase of JumpStart ended this fall, during which a subset of pharmaceutical products were outfitted with RFID tags to track their movements through the pharmaceutical supply chain. The tags were removed before being dispensed to consumers.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, Inc. ( http://www.cardinalhealth.com/ ) is the leading provider of products and services supporting the health care industry. Cardinal Health develops, manufactures, packages and markets products for patient care; develops drug-delivery technologies; distributes pharmaceuticals and medical, surgical and laboratory supplies; and offers consulting and other services that improve quality and efficiency in health care. Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health employs more than 55,000 people on six continents and produces annual revenues of more than $65 billion. Cardinal Health is ranked No.17 on the current Fortune 500 list and named one of the best U.S. companies by Forbes magazine for 2004.

Except for historical information, all other information in this news release consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated or implied. The most significant of these uncertainties are described in Cardinal Health's Form 10-K, Form 8-K and Form 10-Q reports (including all amendments to those reports) and exhibits to those reports, and include (but are not limited to) the costs, difficulties, and uncertainties related to the integration of acquired businesses, the loss of one or more key customer or supplier relationships or changes to the terms of those relationships, changes in the distribution patterns or reimbursement rates for health-care products and/or services, the results, consequences, effects or timing of any inquiry or investigation by any regulatory authority or any legal and administrative proceedings, the impact of previously announced restatements, and general economic and market conditions. Cardinal Health undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement.


Source: Cardinal Health, Inc.

CONTACT: Media, Angela Gardner, +1-614-757-6250, or
angela.gardner@cardinal.com , or Investors, Jim Hinrichs, +1-614-757-7828, or
jim.hinrichs@cardinal.com , both of Cardinal Health, Inc.

Web site: http://www.cardinal.com/


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