The Pharmacy Guild will close down the MedsASSIST real-time recording system it developed for monitoring over-the-counter codeine sales from tomorrow, saying the up-scheduling of codeine-containing analgesics to prescription-only rendered it obsolete.

The Guild first rolled out MedsASSIST last year in an attempt to ward off moves to up-schedule OTC codeine products, building and deploying the system through GuildLink and achieving take-up rates of 70 per cent.