GlaxoSmithKline and Other Industry Heavyweights are Teaming Up With the UK Government to Design Better Supply Chain Networks

A consortium of public and private companies, including pharma industry titans such as GSK and AstraZeneca and tech brands such as Siemens have been awarded part of a £53 million grant from the UK Government’s UK Research and Innovation body and the Made Smarter initiative.

The money will be used to design a proof-of-concept approach to a new digital supply chain and will form The Digital Medicines Manufacturing Research Centre which will be based at Strathclyde, Cambridge, and Loughborough Universities.

The endeavour shall focus on applying artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to the pharma supply chain with the goal of lowering costs, and increasing security, transparency, and flexibility. For example, the approach intends to enable prescriptions to be sent directly from the factory to the patient, with a fully personalised approach.

“For example, we have developed the technology in the last few years for 3D printed formulations, but we have no way yet to introduce this,” said a spokesperson for the consortium. “Our technology will provide the data infrastructure to empower healthcare providers to communicate the individual dosage requirements between doctors, the site at which the final formulation is created, and delivery to the patient, while creating an immutable record for the pharma company and healthcare providers, ensuring regulatory compliance and patient safety.”