The Pharmaceutical Track and Trace system (İTS) developed by Turkey, the world's first and only such tracking system, will be exported to Saudi Arabia. The Turkish system outdid solutions developed by some world-renowned software firms based in the U.S. and Europe, in a recent international tender for the project.

On Aug. 21, an agreement was signed regarding the project under which Saudi Arabia's Pharmaceutical Track and Trace System (Saudi DTTS) will be developed over the course of a year. Once operational, it will be used by the entire Saudi pharmaceutical market.

The İTS which is operated under the jurisdictions of Turkey's Ministry of Health and used by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency has garnered keen interest in recent years.

Saudi officials have already paid a visit to the ministry to gather extensive information on the İTS. Experts from more than 20 countries including South Korea, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have also visited the agency.

The tracking and tracing system, which was developed with public health safety in mind, assigns a unique number to each medicine when it leaves the factory or enters the country. Hence, each medicine is monitored at every stage until it is distributed to citizens, preventing the spread of counterfeit or expired drugs.

The İTS MOBİL application, developed as an accouterment to the İTS system, allows users to learn whether a particular drug has been registered in the system. The application also allows one to easily check the price and expiration date by simply scanning the QR codes on the packaging.

In the latest addition to the system, another application called "İlacım Nerede?" (Where is my Medicine?) has been launched. It primarily targets breast cancer patients and allows users to find the nearest drug store that has the particular medicine in stock.