LAS VEGAS – September 27, 2021 – Member services non-profit XATP Inc. today announced its official inclusion in the Open Credentialing Initiative (OCI), a collaborative industry effort to advance the adoption and development of verifiable credentials to establish Authorized Trading Partner (ATP) status between US pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders.

Under the DSCSA, pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders doing business in the US face new and emerging requirements over the next three years. One such requirement is the need to confirm that their trading partners are also authorized under the law. This presents a major challenge to interoperability between ATPs, particularly when no prior direct business relationship exists. To address this challenge, XATP and OCI were created to establish ATP status between trading partners seeking to verify product information of pharmaceutical products in the US supply chain.

“As the November 2023 deadline for DSCSA compliance approaches, the industry is working together like never before,” said Bob Celeste, C4SCS founder. “Identity is the missing piece of the puzzle. XATP’s participation in OCI is a major step forward in advancing interoperability and further securing the US drug supply.”

“We’re proud to help drug manufacturers and health centers nationwide in their mission to ensure that patients receive the highest standard of care,” said XATP president Ben Taylor. “We are excited to build on our common ground with OCI to bring the supply chain into real-time and help clinicians focus on what matters most.”

XATP and OCI both support the use of W3C-specified Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Verifiable Credentials (VCs), GS1 messaging standards and data attributes, and open standards to achieve safe and secure credentialing and information exchange between ATPs. Interoperable tooling between the two frameworks is now underway.

ABOUT XATP

XATP is a non-profit member services organization created to enable ATP authentication, enhanced verification, and saleable returns documentation. XATP members include global enterprises, health centers, and independent pharmacists committed to assuring prescription drugs remain safe and effective for patients.

Following a 2019 FDA DSCSA pilot with UCLA Health for the FDA, the XATP framework was developed with participation from UCLA Health, Genentech (a member of the Roche Group), Amgen, Sanofi, and other stakeholders. XATP is powered by LedgerDomain, a solutions provider focused on healthcare supply chain assurance and visibility. Results from its real-world deployment at the UCLA specialty pharmacy are available in the peer-review journal Blockchain in Healthcare Today.

ABOUT OCI

OCI is an incubator project of the Center for Supply Chain Studies (C4SCS). In 2020, C4SCS brought together companies representing all segments of the US pharmaceutical supply chain, solution providers, a key industry association, and a standards body to pilot the use of Decentralized Identifiers and Verifiable Credentials to establish ATP status for trading partners involved in automated verifications for saleable returns.

After the pilot’s successful conclusion in February 2021, OCI was launched to advance the implementation of the piloted architecture. Its members include Spherity and Legisym, which respectively drive the framework’s digital wallets and credential issuance, and .MED.

ABOUT C4SCS

C4SCS is a neutral, nonprofit exploration and educational forum designed to assist the healthcare industry in its mission to improve efficiencies, increase productivity, and streamline compliance with DSCSA.

For more information, please contact:

Media Contact
Alex Colgan
XATP Inc.
info@xatp.org

Companies and organizations interested in joining XATP may email membership@xatp.org.