Pharmaceutical Industry to Implement Smart Label Chip

Wollerau, Switzerland -- IDS Microchip, an radio frequency identification (RFID) semiconductor company, announced that its universal smart label chip, IDS-SL13A, is being implemented by the pharmaceutical industry as the "first practical way of automatically tracking, monitoring, time-stamping, and recording information about unseen changes, such as extreme temperature, that could impact the quality of environmentally sensitive goods during transport." The chip, which is up to 10 times more economical than current solutions, lets companies immediately know shipment quality at arrival without direct human physical contact. German-based Maxsol is implementing IDS-SL13A features in its FCC-approved ISO 15693 reader firmware, a move expected to save significant time and expense for its pharmaceutical customers. IDS Microchip will demonstrate the Maxsol solution at electronica, Hall A4 Booth #163, at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre, Munich, November 11–14, 2008.

According to Max Schneider, Chief Executive Officer at Maxsol, "During the last few years, several of our pharmaceutical customers requested a way to send data from a CPU via an interface to the air interface, to set up and read out data using an RFID system. Having the features of IDS Microchip's smart label chip in our reader firmware provides a cost-effective solution for assessing the quality of sensitive medications arriving by truck, ship, or plane."

Oluf Alminde, Director of Sales & Marketing at IDS Microchip, commented on extending the economic and quality assurance benefits of its chip to the pharmaceutical industry: "The experts forecast the revenue growth rate for semi-passive tags/labels will reach 75% over the next four years. The adoption rate of our smart label chip reflects this rapidly expanding need for automatic data logging and tracking systems. We are pleased to serve the pharmaceutical industry with our RFID expertise, and proud to showcase the reader module from Maxsol at electronica, where we also will demonstrate our other RFID chip technologies."

About IDS Microchip
Fabless semiconductor company IDS Microchip is the "only company focused on all silicon aspects of RFID technology to help client/partners achieve cost-effective solutions." Its comprehensive portfolio comprises wireless and sensor-enabled integrated circuits and IP for highly integrated low-power RFID system solutions, including readers, enhanced tags, and labels for both HF and UHF systems. Founded in 1996 and privately funded, IDS Microchip is headquartered in Wollerau, Switzerland, with an office in Toronto and distributors throughout the world.