MediLedger Project: Blockchain enters the pharmaceutical industry
A group of healthcare companies, including the two pharmaceutical giants Genentech and Pfizer, have now announced the MediLedger project, which aims to revolutionize the management of pharmaceutical supply chains by using blockchain.
The goal of the MediLedger project is to stop the circulation of stolen or counterfeit pills in the pharmaceutical supply chain and prevent them from getting into the hands of patients without knowing the origin of the drugs. As Fortune reports, a pilot program of the project is currently underway to track the progress of medicines.
With the application of the Blockchain technology, it will be possible for all participants to record their deliveries from the manufacturer via the wholesaler to the pharmacist. Thus every step on the supply chain can be followed. Each time a drug is passed on, a network of computers will guarantee their origin and authenticity. In the future, stolen pills or counterfeits will be made more difficult. This represents a major step for the transparency of the pharmaceutical industry as well as for consumer protection in the distribution of medicines.
As well as Genentech and Pfizer, Roche, AmerisourceBergen and McKesson Corporation belong to the group of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies that are involved in the implementation of the MediLedger project. So far, the working group has successfully set up a prototype system that registers and verifies drugs on the blockchain. The next step is to develop business models and operational requirements on the blockchain.
The used blockchain technology is being researched and developed by the technology group Chronicled Inc., which is specialized in the field of blockchain and IoT, and the supply chain consulting group The LinkLab LLC. In essence, the MediLedger project is designed to bring the pharmaceutical industry into line with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), which guarantees the pharmaceutical industry to use an "interoperable system" to archive and transfer proprietary medicines
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