Blockchain: A Solution for Improved Traceability with Reduced Counterfeits in Supply Chain of Drugs

Abstract

The Pharmaceutical supply chain needs huge attention while developing technology-based solutions as there is a great need of surveillance in the production and distribution of fake, substandard, counterfeit and grey market medicines, which account for hundreds of billions per year across the globe. Counterfeit drugs have captured the global markets over the period and affecting and risking many lives in a large [1]; solutions to address these have become inevitable. Studies revealed a lot of pharmaceutical products, medicinal devices and doctors have been subjected to counterfeiting the drug supply chain which is prone to lots of pharmaceutical crime. The pharmaceutical market's growth and a rise in world-wide sale of drugs leading to invention of many forms of technology and digital-based platforms trying to come up with solutions for the supply chain. Besides pharmaceutical frauds, increasing security and addressing vulnerabilities of the medical supplies is an area of concern. This leads to the formation of many technology solutions to make supply chains secure, trustable and remove counterfeit drugs from it by applying various methods and approaches. Our System proposes to leverage blockchain technology to make the supply chain of drugs transparent to increase trust among actors and provide security, authenticity and traceability with the help of IoT.