Innovation

Flash Returns LLC innovated an application for a 2D scanner that tracks the locations of medicine down to each bottle. They have distributed these scanners to pharmacies across 48 states in the United States of America free of cost and have made it convenient for them to track and dispose of expired drugs.

These efforts are done out of the company's passion to create a safer environment, especially in terms of pharmaceutical products, and their efforts allow all pharmacies to comply with government regulations, specifically the DSCSA laws which enforce the tracking of expired goods from pharmacies. Flash Returns LLC handles and maintains the database containing the locations of medicine all over the country which is convenient in situations of pharmaceutical recalls or finding locations of lost medicines.

This strives to advance the third Sustainable Development Goal Good Health and Well-being, in particular the subcategory of preventing and treating substance abuse. By having the locations of every drug container, it prevents medicine from being untraceable and potentially consumed by an individual, leading to addiction or potentially death. They also helped create an easy system of detecting expired medicine in pharmacies, making it less time consuming to remove expired medicines and reducing the chance of accidental consumption.

Inspiration

Anthony graduated from Auburn with an interest in Pharmacy, pursuing a PhD and becoming a licensed pharmacist. At this point, he was faced with the decision of pursuing a smaller pharmaceutical company or joining one of the larger, big pharma companies. He chose to work for Walgreens for 3 years. This inspired him to join a smaller company, and he fell in love with the process. Being in a smaller company allows a lot more flexibility on decision making and being able to focus on tasks. In the interview, Anthony explained that regardless of the smaller scale, there is “no small part of business when you look at the big scale.”

From the interactions within the smaller companies, Anthony noticed a discrepancy within the entire process of handling pharmaceutical medications. When asking pharmacies about their means of dealing with expired or expiring medical products, he received 10 different answers from 10 different pharmacies. From the multitude of solutions, he concluded there must be a more efficient and effective way of dealing with the end of a pharmaceutical's life cycle. The large companies were “forgetting about the last mile.” After further research, he found that expired pharmaceuticals account for about two percent of the industry. While it might not initially sound like a lot, the percent equates to around fifteen billion dollars. This information and discrepancy fueled the motivation behind Flash Returns. With this newfound knowledge combined with his experience and optimism in the pharmaceutical industry, he was able to form connections and build a team to lead Flash Returns.

Overall impact

The innovation of using the 2D scanner to track expired medicine has made it far more convenient and easier for pharmacies to adhere to the DSCSA law which entails the removal of expired pharmaceutical goods from pharmacies so they are not sold to the public. The problem of easy access to unprescribed drugs is a growing issue, making it extremely important to be addressed as if no action is taken to carefully handle these expired drugs, not only would it lead to unregulated consumption of substances, but it would be detrimental for the environment. This impact would be incredibly difficult to reverse in the future. Therefore, the lack of problem is testament to how well Flash Returns 2D scanner is doing to enforce the DSCSA law.

The short-term impact suggests that the community benefits from fewer easily accessible drugs due to the tracking system that is approved by the government under the DSCSA law. This impact can be seen throughout most of the country considering that they are able to track the location of medicines across 48 states of the country. For the long-term impact, this system prevents potential harmful consequences due to expired drugs in the future. When this is coupled with the company’s other side of the business, transportation of expired drugs, it also aims to better the environment by disposing the chemicals responsibly alongside protecting people’s health.

Business benefit

In the pharmaceutical return industry, there are approximately 60 rival companies. Out of the 60, roughly 40 of them have ulterior motives other than reducing expired drug danger. Out of the 20 remaining, Flash Returns ranks in the top 10, with the other companies in front being much larger. Additionally, they have set large capital barriers to properly compete. Because of this, Flash Returns uses their innovations of transparency through 2D scanners to set them apart from the competition while also providing additional information to customers.

During the Interview with Anthony, he spoke very highly of the customer service Flash Returns provides to their customers. When asked about their biggest edge in the industry, Anthony commented, “I know this sounds cliche, but it’s our customer service.” Flash Returns does not outsource their customer service, meaning whoever is on the receiving end of a customer call has complete knowledge of Flash Returns and the Pharmaceutical process of disposal. In addition, utilizing the 2D scanners for location tracking allows a lot of transparency for the customers and the locations of their expired pharmaceuticals. Both of these together create a strong relationship with other businesses and allow connections via word of mouth. This advantage allows Flash Returns to foster a mutually beneficial relationship among the many companies they work with. Because of the outstanding reputation they have built among their partners, they are able to acquire more services to more companies.

Social and environmental benefit

Flash Returns LLC plays an integral role in positively impacting both society and the environment through their solutions of handling expired drugs. In terms of society, this is very important as poorly disposed of expired medicines can lead to unregulated consumption of drugs which can lead to addiction, overdose and even death. Easy access to unprescribed drugs is a growing problem, but the fact it’s being maintained shows how Flash Returns LLC’s work to prevent this extremely important problem is actively bettering the quality of life of society.

In terms of environment, Flash Return LLCs business model is built upon a service that transports expired medicines from pharmacies to pharmaceutical manufacturers and disposal companies. While helping pharmacies earn back some of their lost revenue by returning the expired products, this service plays a vital role in ensuring the safe disposal of pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals are made of polluting chemicals that are harmful to the environment, and Flash Returns ensures that these medicines are delivered to facilities with the equipment to dispose of them responsibly. By delivering them to manufacturers, they can get an idea of what medicines are more demanded and which medicines are not and can accordingly adjust their production amounts. This is in line with the SDGs 3.9, prevention of death from hazardous pollution and chemicals, and 12.4, responsible management of Chemicals and Waste which are direct impacts on improvement in the environment.

Interview

Anthony Ricciardone, Chief Commercial Officer