FarmaTrust
Securing the Global Drug Supply Chain

Counterfeit drugs harm and kill a million patients annually around the world due to their toxic ingredients, according to a PwC study. Such substandard drugs continue to flood the markets despite the governing bodies’ and law enforcement’s best efforts. As a result, pharmaceutical companies and government programs that provide subsidized medicine are losing significant revenue, incurring increased costs, experiencing return fraud, and facing regulatory burdens in terms of reporting and compliance. Further, due to the inflexibility of legacy systems and fragmented technological solutions, it has become increasingly difficult to track medicinal drugs from the point of manufacture to the point of consumption. Holding the parties accountable when problems arise is even more difficult. To address such problems that plague the pharmaceutical industry, FarmaTrust has developed a fast, scalable, and secure blockchain solution that ensures end-to-end tracking of medical products throughout the supply chain. “Our mission is to become the provenance system of choice for pharmaceutical supply chain tracking,” states Raja Sharif, founder and CEO of FarmaTrust.

By harnessing the growing efficiency of big data, machine learning, blockchain, and intelligent workflow processing, FarmaTrust accurately and securely records data on serialized packages as it passes through the supply chain lifecycle. FarmaTrust’s blockchain-based Zoi Supply Chain Information Exchange platform 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.

This is achieved through a secure RESTful API interface that integrates with existing supply chain management systems to share information about products moving through the supply chain. The platform integrates with existing enterprise software solutions, reducing the disruption to business operations and system changes in order to comply with track and trace standards. “We are hardware and software agnostic, we can work across the supply chain no matter who the partner is,” adds Sharif.
The smart contracts feature of blockchain that FarmaTrust is leveraging allows automation of pharmaceutical processes including payment, regulatory reporting, and audit trails within and between companies. Moreover, the system’s immutability gives regulators the confidence they need to ensure that the data provided by pharmaceutical suppliers is accurate and the drugs being dispensed to consumers are safe. In addition, FarmaTrust can provide value-added services such as predictive supply services for reducing waste and discerning the most efficient routes to market. This gives governmental organizations complete visibility into their territories, thereby allowing for future planning, budgeting, and use of funds. Given that FarmaTrust’s ultimate goal is patient well-being and the elimination of counterfeit drugs, the company offers a free, downloadable mobile application called the Consumer Confidence App. This app allows patients to determine the authenticity of the medicine by simply scanning the packet.

FarmaTrust recently entered into a strategic partnership with Systech, a global leader in brand protection and product authentication. This joint venture has led to the creation of a revolutionary blockchain-enabled solution that ensures product authenticity for the pharmaceutical industry beyond the currently available compliance, traceability, and product safety solutions. FarmaTrust is already operating in many countries, enabled by the collaboration with Systech, and is currently focusing on increasing the number of contractors that will adopt blockchain services. The company has also partnered with the Mongolian government to pilot a project aimed at conducting feasibility reports and monitoring pharmacies and pharmaceutical supply chains, including warehouses and retailers. Over the next six months, FarmaTrust aims to roll out different data dashboards for its blockchain platform—taking a step closer toward providing the most cost-effective, interoperable, and secure global tracking system for the pharmaceutical industry.