Blockchain Adding Value to the Pharma Industry
Blockchain Adding Value to the Pharma Industry
Used widely in various industries including healthcare, manufacturing, government, and non-profit organizations, Blockchain is fast becoming the technology to help organizations achieve value-based strategic goals (e.g., payers, shareholders, accreditation agencies). To ensure proper identification, traceability, tracking, and provenance, blockchain technology provides an efficient and cost-effective solution to pharmaceutical industries.
Let’s read in detail how blockchain is adding value to the pharma industry
Contract Manufacturing Compliance Management
As more and more, pharmaceutical & Biotech companies choose to outsource their manufacturing projects - companies must evaluate the performance of its contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) and determine whether it meets industry and regulatory standards.
ServBlock’s system allows sponsor companies manage audit and compliance activities from a central command center that enables you to connect, collaborate, and drive measurable improvements with your supply chain partners. ServBlock allows for Data security, traceability, and trust between counterparties that current industrial complexes lack.
Reduce compliance risks and decrease disposition times through full and seamless integration between ServBlock and existing production, supply chain or laboratory systems. ServBlock presents the data to the sponsor company within the context of a role-based dashboard that can be configured to suit the needs of various manufacturing roles.
Allowing for continuous auditing of the process through a permission matrix and distributed ledger technology while ensuring every party to the audit has access only to the information required for their role.
Safety and Security
Pharmaceutical companies use blockchains in a variety of ways. The use of cryptographic technologies to validate blocks of transactional data helps address the problem of security, which is a major concern. Serialization has been implemented in response to the security threat posed by counterfeit medications. With this technology, serial numbers are authenticated throughout the entire supply chain. Digital signatures, blockchain chain codes, health information, and data miners have been deployed from the manufacturer to the pharmacy to keep product quality consistent. There are many types of attacks on healthcare data. MedShare is another proposal to securely use blockchain technology in health care to securely share medical data between organizations. A white paper published on MedRec introduces a system for secret storage of medical data and future provision of researchers with it for study purposes. Incorporating blockchain security provides a way to store patient data and easily access it.
Prevention of Counterfeited Pharmaceutical Products
Unauthorized access to blockchain data could compromise security systems, so the technology is heavily regulated to prevent this. A decentralized application that supports infallible traceability was proposed by Chiacchio et al. (2020). The application would be based on blockchain technology and serialization technologies. In addition, researchers proposed a framework based on a simulated blockchain that supports the biopharmaceutical supply chain. This framework helps prevent counterfeits of pharmaceutical products. It also offered a road map outlining how blockchain technology can assist participating stakeholders in avoiding introducing counterfeit medications into the supply chain. This proposed solution is based on the Ethereum blockchain and IPFS networks. A few prototype implementations, such as MIStore and Politdok's initiative partnered with Intel, have been reported in insurance claim processing, a promising area for blockchain applications.
The BlockRX initiative uses distributed ledger technology to manage the drug development life cycle. For example, Pharma supply chain authenticity could be ensured, and new legislation met if this technology is merged with simple, smart contract functions or a closed blockchain application.
Pharmaceutical Traceability
Drug counterfeiting and supply chain traceability have been addressed using various methods, including the Ethereum blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. Using this framework, it is possible to track drugs, protect the user's privacy, manage quality, ensure non-repudiation, make the supply of drugs transparent, and better manage supply and demand. Drugledger, a scenario-oriented blockchain platform, employs a mentoring architecture for the regulation and traceability of pharmaceuticals.
Product Distribution
Multiple dealers and intermediaries create the potential for unethical business practices, reducing the supply chain's effectiveness. The use of blockchain technology has been praised for its ability to stop the distribution of substandard pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical distribution is facilitated by ledger systems, chaincodes, and serialization, which assigns serial numbers to pharmaceutical products to empower identification and differentiation. Blockchain data is strictly controlled to prevent unauthorized access that might endanger security measures. The pharmaceutical distribution system is more efficient because of the Internet of Things (IoT)
The evaluation of blockchain applications helps the pharmaceutical industry. Previous research found that healthcare professionals' perceptions, a lack of cooperation, and economic inequality were the main barriers to blockchain application in the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, the authors noted several elements that might support blockchain applications, such as system stability, data security, improved supply chain management, decentralization, interoperability, and governmental regulations and laws.
References
Zhou, L., Wang, L., & Sun, Y. (2018). MIStore: a Blockchain-Based Medical Insurance Storage System. Journal of Medical Systems, 42(8). https://doi.org/10.1007/S10916-018-0996-4
Zakari, N., Al-Razgan, M., Alsaadi, A., Alshareef, H., Al saigh, H., Alashaikh, L., Alharbi, M., Alomar, R., & Alotaibi, S. (2022). Blockchain technology in the pharmaceutical industry: a systematic review. PeerJ Computer Science, 8. https://doi.org/10.7717/PEERJ-CS.840
Chiacchio, F., Compagno, L., D'Urso, D., Velardiata, L. (2020). A decentralized application for the traceability process in the pharma industry. January 2020. Procedia Manufacturing, 42:362-369. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340456649_A_decentralized_application_for_the_traceability_process_in_the_pharma_industry
