The tech giant will take the lead in testing an early pilot version of a system which, if developed further, could help track addictive medications through supply chains.
This spring, tech manufacturer Intel[1] will lead several partner firms, including Johnson & Johnson, in testing[2] a simulated version of a blockchain platform designed to track drugs across the supply chain.
If a live version of the system were to be rolled out, it would track drugs from their point of manufacture to their point of distribution, possibly aided by the use of sensors. This could help investigators understand where to start looking for drugs that disappear from the supply chain. The platform could also help reveal cases of so-called "double-doctoring," whereby several doctors provide a single patient with multiple prescriptions for the same drug.
In the upcoming phase of the project, however, pilot participants will enter data in a way that merely simulates medication's movement through the supply chain. If the tests go well, the system could see a limited deployment in a live setting later this year.
David Houlding, the director of healthcare privacy and security at Intel Health and Life Sciences, said he does not believe the platform "will eliminate the opioid problem, but [it] will help." To be maximally effective, he argued, it would have to be deployed "worldwide" rather than just in the US, not least because many opioids on the US market come from overseas.
The project is to take place under the auspices of the Center for Supply Chain Studies, with the goal of bringing pharmaceutical firms into compliance with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, passed in 2013. The law calls for[3] the establishment of an "electronic, interoperable system to identify and trace certain prescription drugs
