By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Radio tags will be placed on the containers of 50 percent of all drugs sold here by 2015, the government said Wednesday, in order to create a wireless tracking system that enables better inventory control and a reduction in prescription errors.

Government officials suggest that the radio frequency identification (RFID) tags will improve efficiency in distribution, allowing pharmaceutical companies to save around 1.8 trillion won (about $1.6 billion) annually, and also providing an easier way to retrieve subpar quality drugs.

The country's low recovery rate for substandard drugs, currently at around 20 percent, has been a problem, and RFID technology has long been discussed as a possible solution.

The electronic tags will also help pharmacies combat theft and incorrect dispensing.

The ambitious project involves the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Korea Food and Drug Administration, and also the ministries of knowledge economy and education, science and technology.

"The government will help open an era of convergence between the pharmaceutical industry and information technology. Requiring RFID tags on drugs on the national level is a world-first experiment and we believe this will greatly improve transparency and efficiency in drug retail," said Vice Knowledge Economy Minister Ahn Hyun-ho.

The RFID project will have a significant economic effect, government officials claim, generating 910 billion won in production and 410 billion won in added value through 2015.

RFID refers to the technology of putting information into computer memory tags that are readable at a distance by radio, which promises to revolutionize the way items are tracked.

The RFID tags on drugs will allow pharmacists a convenient way to ensure whether a product is genuine and remove drugs that have expired, with the information automatically relayed to their computers through the readers.

Government officials also plan to allow the information on the tags to be transmitted to mobile phones of consumers.

Aside of RFID, the government is considering more ways to give the local pharmaceutical sector an information-technology (IT) jolt.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology plans to create a platform to enhance the collaboration between companies, universities and state-run research institutes in areas such as drug development.

The ministry is also moving to assist the efforts to develop new technologies for high-speed computational methods to screen disease development and the effects of drugs.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy is focused on developing individualized treatment methods based on Web technology and "cloud" or server-based utility, computing.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr