The blockchain technology concept that underpins cryptocurrency is well-known in today’s society. Several pharmaceutical companies are looking into using it as a more secure and robust way to handle issues including supply chain interruption, data asymmetry, stagnation, and poor scientific output. Blockchain technology has the potential to play a significant role in the supply chain industry by offering a variety of potential solutions to the supply chain problems that the medical industry is currently experiencing. This new technology allows for decentralised transaction recording and tracking, as well as improved overall efficiency and the removal of unnecessary intermediaries.
Well how it can impact in Pharma sector?
The traditional pharmaceutical supply chain is plagued with challenges such as lack of transparency, difficulty tracking supplies, and the distribution of obsolete items. The emerging blockchain technology is one of the solutions to these problems.
IBM, KPMG LLP, Merck & Co. Inc., and Walmart Inc. completed a USFDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) pilot programme in 2020 that demonstrated how blockchain technology can be used to help meet the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) requirements to verify, track, and trace prescription medicines and vaccines distributed within the United States.
The cost of development and execution, a lack of information, and industry norms are all important factors in the pharmaceutical industry.
Most blockchain projects have scalability issues, and storing data on a blockchain is expensive. Regulations safeguarding patient privacy make it difficult to enlist stakeholders or provide non-identifiable data to external parties.
However, answers to these problems are being researched.
The MediLedger Pilot Project, a partnership of 25 pharmaceutical industry leaders, is developing an industry-owned permissioned blockchain network for the pharmaceutical sector based on open standards and specifications. We are hopeful that a breakthrough in the form of blockchain will be achieved soon in the pharmaceutical industry.
