Blockchain in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Bc. Amanuel Aberra Chala

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The importance of pharmaceutical companies is undeniable in the world we live in. Pharmaceutical companies do extensive work in clinical research, drug development and in increasing market access. Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars each year on a quest to solve humanity’s biggest health issues. The advancement in the technology that pharmaceutical companies have collectively brought to our world has increased the longevity of humans and animals alike, and at the same time has improved quality of life and alleviated suffering. As with every other industry, pharmaceutical companies and their supply chains have a complex and high stakes relationship. The pharmaceutical supply chain often involves multiple stakeholders that contribute from the raw material sourcing to the packaging and shipping of the end product to the patient in need. Supply chain suffers from an archaic way of records keeping where data is oftentimes centralized and there is no easy way of verifying the veracity of records in a reasonable amount of time. Cold chains, which are effectively supply chains that need to adhere to a regulated temperature, suffer from this issue in particular because there needs to be a way to keep temperature records throughout the lifecycle of a certain product or material. This thesis aims to show a way to solve one of the most persistent issues in healthcare in general which is the blood cold chain. The current ways of making sure that the blood needed by a patient is actually safe to use are outdated because there is a risk of falsification associated to them. The thesis presents a better way to handle the blood cold chain by using blockchain technology to design an application that would solve most of the issues associated with the current way of working.

Keywords

Blockchain, Supply chain, Ledger

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 31. 3. 2022

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Miloš Ulman, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Economics and Management

Master programme / field:
Systems Engineering and Informatics / Informatics