Reducing the flow of counterfeit medicinal products in the pharma supply chain using blockchain network integrated with IoT
摘要
The global supply of counterfeit drugs is a large and poorly documented problem compounded by poor supply chain management and pharmaceutical regulation practices. Existing verification processes for drugs are typically cumbersome and labor-intensive and result in delays in detection. In this paper, Blockchain-based decentralized traceability tracking of medicine across the pharmaceutical supply chain with the Hyperledger Fabric is proposed to solve this issue. The prototype system includes manufacturer peers, distributors, and pharmacies along with Certificate Authorities for authentication and identification. Security channels provide openness of transactions between parties. Internet of Things device temperature readings are fetched by Think Speak cloud, where a NodeJS Express server accommodates client inquiries using RESTful API. The pharmaceutical players utilize the system for ensuring transparency and authenticating the flow of drugs. End users approach a mobile app to verify the authenticity of the drug. The comparison of Hyperledger with traditional centralized databases portrays its advantage. In addition, metrics of the utilization of resources are monitored such as CPU, memory, disk bytes, network, and operations. The novel method enhances security and integrity in the transactions within the pharma supply chain and relies on cryptography principles and distributed consensus protocols.