The global track and trace solutions market is estimated to grow at CAGR above 18.0 % over the forecast time frame 2019 to 2026 and reach the market value around USD 7.2 billion by 2026, according to Acumen Research and Consulting

The track and trace of pharmaceuticals refers to the process of determining a drug’s current and past locations. When track and trace is correctly implemented, a drug can be tracked throughout the supply chain and traced back up the supply chain upon return or recall.

Primary techniques used in the monitoring of pharma products include RFID and barcode recognition. Recently, the recall of products has been increasing and so the track and track system companies have been developing software, equipment and consulting services. These products provide a broad variety of alternatives for tracing catering goods to various sectors.

The global track and trace solutions market is estimated to grow at CAGR above 18.0 % over the forecast time frame 2019 to 2026 and reach the market value around USD 7.2 billion by 2026, according to Acumen Research and Consulting.

Tracking and trace solutions involve the distribution and logistics of a broad variety of goods which facilitate the place of the item of concern both presently and before. The main techniques used in the monitoring of product shipment include RFID and barcode recognition. Recently, the recall of products has been increasing and so the track and track system companies have been developing software, equipment and consulting services. These products provide a broad variety of alternatives for tracing catering goods to various sectors.

During the prescribed forecast, the worldwide tracking and tracking solutions sector is anticipated to see important development owing to variables like increasing the application of track and trace alternatives to drug counterfeit products and structured regulatory structure and standards application by medical devices and pharmaceutical manufacturers. While these variables increase the market growth, high installation costs associated with serialization and aggregation alternatives significantly hinder market growth. The increased deployment of businesses in pharmaceutical and medical equipment will fuel development. False use of pharmaceutical products is a significant issue facing businesses to adopt other alternatives for the surveillance of the supply chain.

In the production sector, tracking and trace solutions are essential regardless of the item being manufactured. Such alternatives have become essential in sectors like the pharmaceutical, food and drink sectors, consumer products and luxury products. Different sectors have specific regulatory policies and mandates in order to guarantee consumer safety.

Raja Sharif, CEO of FarmaTrust explains to Mediworldme about the importance of tracking and tracing medicines in the pharmaceutical industry.

Tell us in detail about the track and trace method of pharma?

FarmaTrust are innovating the pharmaceutical tracking/data services, Cell&Gene therapy and Clinical Trials solutions. We digitize client operations by using blockchain technology to create immutable and incorruptible records with full provenance data. This avoids waste, provides greater transparency, accountability, audibility and eliminates counterfeit drugs from the supply chain. With AI, we allow clients to reduce costs, create efficiencies and help with a faster speed to market.

We are partners with IBM, Oracle and Intel. We have access to some of the most cutting edge sensors and technologies.

How is track and trace a more secure way to manage pharmaceuticals?

Distributed Ledger Technology and blockchain services are currently the most secure methods of storing transaction data. The fact that they are immutable and incorruptible means that government institutions, regulators and the public should be confident that there is a fully transparent system provided by our solution. Naturally in a highly regulated industry such as healthcare, where lives are at risk, this is very important

Describe its planning and forecasting abilities?

FarmaTrust, are all about innovation in the healthcare space. As we collect more data, we can use AI to do demand planning with the objective of reducing the time medicines spend on the shelves. This is important, as in one statistic, $2 billion worth of medicines in the US are wasted as they expire sitting on shelves. Our solution can reduce ‘shelf time’ and have predictive automated purchasing which means healthcare budgets are spent more efficiently and costs are reduced substantially. We take the guesswork out of the pharmaceutical demand planning.

Our solution can not only save money and make companies more efficient but similarly we can ensure tax payers budgets or national budgets are used more efficiently, and Ministries of Health can forward plan their budgets much more accurately, thereby not tying up funds unnecessarily.

Tell us about the technology you used for track and trace?

We use blockchain, both permissioned and public, depending on the customer’s preferences and requirements. We take a blockchain neutral approach, so that if the customer changes their mind, or a better blockchain platform is launched, then they can easily move to that. We do this by using GS1 and EPCIS standards for data capture, and we have our own blockchain interconnectors, as well as third party, blockchain inter-connectors.

This strategy means that the customer is not tied to one particular platform, and ensures interoperability. That is why we are also part of the US FDA pilots, as they want to ensure that there is interoperability between different blockchain platforms.

We are also sensor agnostic, so we have partnered with Intel, Logmore, Ruuvi, and other sensor companies which are already integrated, allowing us to monitor temperature, humidity, location, tilt and shock. This is particularly important for cold storage pharmaceuticals and things like vaccines, which are temperature sensitive.

If medicines are diverted to a wrong location, or go outside certain temperature levels,then our solution can automatically send a notification to the nominated person, either by WhatsApp, SMS, or email depending on the clients preference.

Why is it necessary to use track and trace in a pharma supply chain?

In many Western countries, the supply of pharmaceutical and healthcare products are regulated, so you must legally know where any packet of medicine or medical device is at any time.

In the USA these are called the DSCSA regulations, and in the EU they are called the Falsified Medicines Directive or ‘FMD’ rules. They are slightly different in terms of approach but the result is the same ie you should track each packet. Turkey and some other countries they have a centralized system which the government controls.

Essentially, this is to eliminate counterfeit drugs, which is a $200 industry and kills billion approximately 1m people according to WHO.

Can track and trace revolutionize the pharma industry?

We believe the FarmaTrust solution can revolutionize the pharma industry in the following ways:

• The data we capture is immutable and incorruptible – so we ensure consumer safety and regulatory compliance;
• We can automate many processes, eg tax collection, automated payments, automated compliance/audit;
• We can do predictive analytics and demand planning, thereby using resources more efficiently – the “just in time” supply chain model which is used by many companies;
• We can ensure easier and more accurate budget planning;
• We can eliminate counterfeit drugs, substandard products and returns fraud;
• We can give a full view of the stocks of pharmaceutical products in a particular territory – so we can prevent shortages (or indeed oversupply) and because our data is in real time, countries can react very quickly to their pharmaceutical needs;
• We can ensure easier and faster customs clearance.

One of our large customers saw a 20% efficiency gain, and deferred £2m in spending by utilizing our services. Their payback from using our system was within 12 months.

Are pharma track and trace regulations commonly implemented as serialization requirements?

Yes – without effective serialization it’s difficult to be able to track and trace drugs.

Describe your enterprise ready blockchain solution which provides an end to end provenance of pharma products?

Our solution is already implemented and works at enterprise scale. We are installed with Systech in the USA and McKesson (worlds largest wholesaler) in Europe. We have not seen any issues with our product in capturing data required at their scale.

How does your solution seal the pharma supply chain from fake and substandard medicine?

Each packet is uniquely labelled and has tamper-proof packing. The labels are issued either by a central authority (as in EU FMD) or the labels are centrally registered (as in USA). If anyone tries to photocopy the label and push it into the supply chain then our system will dedect two identical labels and flag them for inspection.

How do you ensure that your innovative technology can work anywhere in the world?

In the Western markets, we capture data using existing technological infrastructure – eg scanning equipment, ERM systems etc etc. In the emerging markets we use mobile phone infrastructure to capture data, and we have a number of mobile phone apps that allows us to scan labels or use sensors.

How does it safeguard consumer confidence?

We have a FarmaTrust app that consumers can scan labels and it will tell them whether a  product  is  genuine  or

suspicious. However, the way our system works, it prevents counterfeit or substandard drugs getting into the supply

chain well before it reaches the consumer.