DHL and Accenture want to follow pharmaceuticals from the producer of the medication to the pharmacist who gives the prescription to the patient, using Blockchain pharmaceutical supply chains more efficient. This could potentially save the lives of many patients that die because of counterfeit medicine.
DHL, a large logistics company, partnered with Accenture to study the application of Blockchain in pharmaceutical supply chains. They completed their proof of concept, DHL claims it was a success.According to Interpol, counterfeit medication takes the lives of more than 1 million people every year. 30% of the medicine sold in developing countries is counterfeit.
The CIO chief development office at DHL Supply Chain, KeithTurner, Stated:
“By utilising the inherent irrefutability within blockchain technologies, we can make great strides in highlighting tampering [with medicines], reducing the risk of counterfeits and actually saving lives.”
Blockchain can transform pharmaceutical supply chains by storing and registering manufacturers, warehouses, distributors, pharmacies, hospitals and doctors in a secure and unchangeable way. All the information will be stored throughout multiple nodes that will belong to the DHL and all the data will be available to the company and its shareholders.
The Blockchain tested by DHL can handle more than 1500 transactions per second and more than 7 Billion serial numbers.