China's FDA urged to get track-and-trace system in place

Chinese drug companies are urging the country's Food and Drug Administration to act quickly to replace a supplier for a track-and-trace system there. The FDA recently put its project on hold after companies complained that its contract with a unit of Alibaba Group ($BABA) to design the barcode tracking system gave the Hong Kong-based company an unfair edge as it moves to fulfill its online drug selling ambitions. "I advise the CFDA to introduce a new tracking system with more detailed columns … and please be as quick as possible," Wei Feiyan, board chairwoman of Guangxi-based Huahong Pharmaceutical and a deputy to National People's Congress, said at an annual legislative meeting of Chinese leadership where health policy was discussed. More from FiercePharmaAsia