nCipher Joins SAFE-BioPharma Association

STONEHAM, Mass. -- nCipher plc (LSE:NCH), a global leader in protecting critical enterprise data, announces it has become a SAFE-BioPharma Association Vendor Partner. This non-profit organization was founded by the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies to develop a secure means of replacing hand-signed paper based documents and forms with legally approved digitally signed documents.

The SAFE (Signatures and Authentication For Everyone) digital identity and digital signature standard delivers a legally enforceable and regulatory-compliant way to provide identity verification, non-repudiation and content integrity for electronically signed documents in the pharmaceutical industry. SAFE founder members include AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble and Sanofi-Aventis. SAFE digital signatures are already being used to make government submissions and safeguard internal documents describing research, product trials and drug discovery.

nCipher’s Time Stamp Server and hardware security modules (HSMs) support the SAFE standard and comply fully with the FDA’s 21 CFR Part 11 Regulation. This means that pharmaceutical, healthcare and life sciences organizations can digitally sign and time stamp critical documents and electronic records using a high-strength, tamper-resistant security appliance. Not only does this overcome the inherent risks associated with software-based digital signing processes but also provides an auditable and trusted record of date and time for all submissions without relying on system clocks within host operating systems, that can be easily abused.

“We welcome nCipher as a SAFE Vendor Partner and look forward to their providing a range of time sensitive security solutions to the SAFE community,” said Mollie Shields-Uehling, President and CEO SAFE-BioPharma Association.

nCipher Corp. Ltd.