Around the Block(chain) – applications in pharma

The wonderful thing about blockchain is that it’s such a resilient and futureproof technology and we are really only now beginning to imagine its potential in biopharmaceuticals. So, at present in healthcare, while its use is primarily around supply chain transparency, security and real time monitoring, its immutability is an obvious application. There are potentially a huge number of other applications if you take a step back and look at the use of blockchain outside of healthcare. For example, its use in financial tech software and famously in cryptocurrencies could point to some low hanging fruit in health settings. The ability to handle large volumes of payments as seen in crypto and applying the use of smart contracts could bring tremendous benefits in the complex payment systems often prevalent in healthcare.

So, I will breakdown the three core areas, before diving deeper, that blockchain should become the de rigueur standard in, namely: supply chain monitoring, digital regulation and smart contracts for multistakeholder therapy reimbursement schemes.