UK Set to Create Its First Digital Supply Chain for Pharmaceuticals

The UK Government and key players in the pharmaceutical industry have announced plans to create the countries first digital supply chain. The initiative will make use of blockchain technology and seeks to ensure that any future health crises similar to the COVID-19 pandemic will be more effectively managed from a supply chain perspective.

The new supply chain will make it possible for prescriptions to be sent directly from factories to the patients’ homes. Blockchain tracking and ledgering will provide the necessary security and visibility to support this more personalised approach to pharmaceutical delivery. The idea is to reduce the workload on pharmacies while simultaneously boosting the patient experience.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a non-departmental public body that's part of the UK government, and Made Smarter, a digital manufacturing initiative, have awarded the consortium £53 million for the project, which also includes such industry giants as Catalent, Siemens, GlaxoSmithKline, and AstraZeneca, with blockchain and AI services company FarmaTrust providing the technological expertise.

The project will be working out of brand-new Digital Medicines Manufacturing Research Centres based at Strathclyde University in Scotland, and Cambridge and Loughborough Universities in England.

It’s hoped this will me the first step in creating a nationwide network of smart factories where medicines can be created on demand and shipped directly to patients.