How can blockchain adoption speed up the pharma industry?
By: Sophia Casey
Tags: Health, Blockchain, Blockchain Technology, Blockchain Development, Pharmacy

One of the industries that the world is talking about is pharma, especially in the pandemic times, when the whole world is eyeing toward the new vaccine, there will be a need for a system that can ensure seamless distribution of the same. While the conventional platforms are adept at this, they are not as efficient, and hence, there will be a demand for a more efficient system. Blockchain can prove helpful here. Well, it is not just this, the role of Blockchain is spread across the different segments, and we are going to explore how and why Blockchain is the right solution for the pharma industry.

The Problems that we need to address:

Before heading to understand how Blockchain will benefit the system, we need to understand the key problems of the pharma segment that are staring us in the face. Here are a few of them:

1. Counterfeit drugs

2. Supply chain system

3. Inventory management

While there are other issues also groping the pharma industry, these are the key problems that need quick answers.

Why Blockchain?

Blockchain is the distributed ledger technology, and it works on creating a platform wherein all the information is easily accessible and traceable. Immutability and transparency are the key features of Blockchain technology that will make it a panacea for the pharma industry and other industries.

Let’s understand how this happens?

Drug safety: The issue of fake drugs is not new; it is one of the biggest challenges that need the right solution. The problem is grave, and it needs a solution, in 2012, tainted steroids killed 11 people near Boston, and left 100s of people sickened. In the US, there was no active ingredient found in cancer medicine. These problems are unavoidable. In fact, counterfeit drugs can claim individuals’ lives, and hence we need a system that can make them easy to track and trace. With Blockchain, we can enable tracking of APIs used in making drugs. By tracking this, one can easily figure out if there is a problem with the system or not, and if there is a problem, it can be instantly tracked.

Supply chain management: The next pointer where Blockchain can prove beneficial is supply chain management. Tracking and tracing of data become easier with Blockchain, and the pharma industry can use this feature to track the supply of medicine and other health supplies.

Inventory management: Again, this is an important issue that Blockchain needs to address. The supply of medicine and other medical aids should always be me, but that is only feasible when there is a strong inventory management system. With Blockchain, the information is easily uploaded and easily accessible to all the people in the system. Hence, it will become easier for them to access this and know if there is a shortfall in the inventory of medicine and other medical aids.

With all these set of advantages, Blockchain becomes one of the leading support systems to enhance the pharma industry’s functioning. While there are several other use cases like clinical trial management, and others, there is also a demand for Blockchain experts who can create such integrated platforms ready to use and can be synced with the current business segment.

The way ahead

There is a need for skilled individuals who can leverage this technology to match up the growing demand.