THE CHALLENGE.

Over the years, the world of pharmacy and drug production has become the petri dish of unscrupulous people obsessed with greed. These persons, operating behind the legal structures and global laws on drug production, culture drugs that are nothing if not fake. Despite the efforts of various stakeholders to nip this canker in the bud, it continues to exacerbate, necessitating a need for stringent laws to guide and guard the manufacture, transport and distribution of drugs.

According to the PWC's recent report, 30% of all drugs on the markets are fake. It continues to say that, approximately one million deaths occur annually as a result of fake drugs. What makes this situation dire is the fact that 450,000 preventable malarial deaths occur.

A key problem in all of this is the inability of the various pharmaceutical industries to verify the authenticity of their products once they leave factories. This inability results in a break of chain of custody, making it easier for fake drugs bearing same brands and company trade names to enter the market.

THE SOLUTION.

A team of experts, having studied the effects of fake drugs on global health have come up with a perfect solution. One may ask, what does this team have to offer to stem the inflow of fake drugs on our markets? The answer is simply FarmaTrust.*

FarmaTrust is a blockchain-backed platform which aims to provide a complete information as well as history on drug products from the point of manufacture to the consumer or retailer.

This is to help all parties at various points of the supply chain platform track their pharmaceutical products to prevent influx of fake ones. Like all other blockchain-backed platforms, FarmaTrust is :

Decentralized.

Meaning it is not managed by a few group of people or entity.

Scalable.

Meaning it has the ability to ‘expand’ to contain the increasing transactions, data and its usage.

Transparent, secure and fast.

“FarmaTrust works by automating end-to-end tracking of medicinal products through the pharmaceutical supply chain.” It records data of serialized packages through each point in the supply chain life cycle, making sure it is in accordance with the track and trade regulatory requirements of that particular country or area.

MODE OF OPERATION.

FarmaTrust contains ZOI, which is “a blockchain-based Supply Chain Information Exchange Platform, which securely verifies and tracks the supply of genuine products across a diverse network of pharmaceutical brands, manufacturers, distributors and supply chain operators, providing traceability and data services to governments, law enforcement agencies, NGOs, retailers and consumers.”

It has a unique digital token which references every serialized product to solve current track and trace challenges. Its scalability applies techniques like caching, data sharing and multi-processing to effectively conduct millions of transactions daily.

The platform has a token model which allows for trading. FarmaTrust has the FTT tokens which are digital assets that are publicly tradable within the blockchain. It has the ZOI tokens and the compliance tokens. The ZOI tokens are only available for use on the ZOI platform for transactions and payments. They can be bought or sold on the FarmaTrust Exchange.

The ZOI tokens are burnt after use on the platform. The compliance tokens however are not cryptocurrencies. They digitally track individual serialized product packets as they move through the supply chain. The compliance tokens are burnt when the product packets are delivered.

FEATURES.

1. Supply Chain Data Automation.

FarmaTrust has a neutral and secure exchange system that uses RESTful API and enables easy handling of complex tasks by coordinating systems within the supply chain.

2. Smart Contracts.

FarmaTrust partners with pharmaceutical companies and other parties in the supply chain to verify product traceability through agreed upon arrangements called smart contracts.

3. Data Security.

Since data shared may contain commercially sensitive information, FarmaTrust ensures the encryption of all datasets sent across a network. These can only be decrypted by the owner via a secret seed.

4. Artificial Intelligence.

Through machine learning and blockchain technology, FarmaTrust may be able to predicts profitable market routes as well as drugs due to existing data. This prevents pharmaceutical companies from incurring unnecessary costs.

ADVANTAGES.

1. Cost-effective.

It saves the companies money in logistics and tracking of goods.

2. Minimal disruption to existing systems.

It has the RESTful API interface which easily integrates with existing supply chain management systems without causing significant changes to the preexisting system.

3. It is flexible and scalable.

Its ability to expand to contain data and transactions allows it to handle complex supply chain systems and workflow.

4. Access to product information in real time.

This is especially beneficial to law enforcement agencies. By being easily traceable, law enforcement agencies can determine any information about the products as they move through the supply chain life cycle.

5. Provides significant transparency in state finances in health care.

Some governments subsidize healthcare products like drugs for their citizens. Through FarmaTrust and Zoi, it makes it easier for the government to determine the amount spent in healthcare subsidiaries.

6. Confidence in authenticity of drugs.

Retailers and consumers are able to have confidence that the drugs in their possession are authentic, especially with the free apps FarmaTrust provides for product verification.

FarmaTrust will not only make business easier for pharmaceutical companies, but it will help rid the world of dangerous drugs on our markets. The future is bright— let's embrace it.

This article is written as a submission for the @originalworks contest. Images are from pixabay and the FarmaTrust website. For more information, visit the official website of FarmaTrust.

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