[ad_1]
Counterfeit medicine is a vast and terrifying problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 1 million people die each year due to the unconscious imputation of counterfeit drugs. It also predicts that around 10% of all medicines circulating in the world today are false and the problem disproportionately affects the most vulnerable in poor countries, with a rate of 30% in some areas of Asia, 39; Latin America and Africa.
This sector is almost as deadly as profitable, with a value of about $ 200 billion a year (for comparison, the illegal drug trade is worth about $ 246 billion).
The reason why it is a successful industry is because it is so difficult to track down the source of these medicines and why these impostors are almost impossible to detect in the first place. "Counterfeiters can produce drugs and similar devices that contain few or no active ingredients, or the wrong ingredients, unless the authentic drug could cost," says the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM).
"Criminals duplicate the packaging, shape, taste and feel of the product so that it is not distinguishable from authentic medicine, but patients and doctors can not tell the difference," added PSM.
So, it's easy to understand why business is booming.
But despite all these factors accumulating against us, we have a very valuable ally in the fight against counterfeits: data.
Data-centric technologies, notably blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning, have proven incredibly effective in the fight against counterfeit medicines. In recent years, with the evolution of technology in orbit around data, even companies are working to combat this problem. DATAx spoke with Raja Sharif, CEO of one of these companies, FarmaTrust, which uses the blockchain to effectively track individual drug packages across the global supply chain.
DATAx: What is the role of AI and machine learning in the FarmaTrust solution?
Raja Sharif: Ultimately, our vision is that our system will allow customers to use artificial intelligence to find faster and more efficient routes on the market and to know what to produce, when to produce it, in what quantities and for which territories. This means that pharmaceutical companies and governments can eliminate waste and reduce overcapacity or under-production of pharmaceuticals.
DATAx: How can FarmaTrust's blockchain technology potentially save lives in the pharmaceutical supply chain?
RS: Our system effectively seals the pharmaceutical supply chain from counterfeit drugs, because we track legitimate products from the point of production to the point of consumption. Duplicate or illegitimate packages will be reported and destroyed.
DATAx: What is the future of FarmaTrust?
RS: The future is bright for FarmaTrust as we operate in the $ 1.3 trillion pharmaceutical sector. Companies are currently under a lot of pressure to digitize and become datacenters and we can help them by installing our future-proof blockchain solution.
Not only can we help with regulatory compliance, we can witness the automation of the entire supply chain. Our divisions that focus on personalized medicine (gene / cell therapy) and clinical trials are in high growth sectors, so we believe there will be revenues in the next year.
DATAx: What is your opinion on the use of dApps and their role in helping the blockchain gain a more widespread popularity?
RS: dApps is an interesting area that will allow substantial growth in the use of blockchain technologies. We are currently moving to building the blockchain bases for our platform, but dApps will allow them to be used in various industries.
Visit AI & Big Data for Pharma Summit 2018, part of DATAx New York 12-13 December 2018
DATAx: What makes the blockchain different from the technologies that came before us?
RS: Blockchain allows trust in an environment without trust. With the technology, a custodian or a trusted person is no longer necessary to verify the transactions because of the immutability and the incorruptibility of the data that are recorded.
DATAx: What will be the strongest in 2019, AI or blockchain?
RS: Both and sometimes simultaneously. If you provide artificial intelligence to data integrity, the results can be extremely accurate.
DATAx: Can you outline some of your predictions for blockchain and data trends for 2019?
RS: My forecasts for the next year are as follows:
- There will be a growing traditional acceptance of cryptocurrencies.
- Speed and scalability problems will be significantly improved for blockchain platforms.
- There will be a uniform and growing international regulation of cryptographic resources.
- More governments will place services such as real estate registers, medical records and blockchain voting.
DATAx: How would you respond to the claims that the blockchain hype is over?
RS: Just like the boom and boom of the dotcom, successful projects will become mature companies and take the place of the FAANG, while the weaker projects will die. Over the next decade a new generation of blockchain and artificial intelligence companies will lead the way to increase automation and efficiency worldwide. Some jobs will disappear and new jobs will be created.
