To reduce costs, errors and inefficiencies, Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies have joined a blockchain project led by technology company Chronicled, according to Blockchain News.
The MediLedger Project is an initiative that aims at building blockchain-based ecosystems and supply chain solutions. McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Corp., and Premier are the other companies that will be part of the blockchain project.
By adopting the blockchain network, the life science and pharmaceutical companies will be able to automate the contract reconciliation and chargeback processes, which are often costly.
The blockchain network expects to go live in the second quarter of this year. In earlier testing, the request and response time averaged to less than 400 milliseconds. MediLedger also established a protocol for saleable return drug verification that meets the FDA's 2019 Drug Supply Chain Security Act regulations.
While data on the blockchain is open, the information is only shared with trading partners that are specifically chosen. The blockchain also doesn’t have a central repository of the data. Chronicled serves as the network manager, but it does not have access to users' private and sensitive data.
"This is what makes the project so special," Chronicled CEO Susanne Somerville told Blockchain News. "It's distributed, it's decentralized, and the data is private. Even though Chronicled is providing the technology, industry users operate the software themselves."
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