Talking pharmaceuticals and blockchain with FarmaTrust

Liquid
Liquid
Sep 7, 2018 · 5 min read

FarmaTrust is using blockchain technology to eliminate counterfeit drugs, which result in the deaths of up to 1 million people every year. The FarmaTrust token is now listed on Liquid. For this blog, the Liquid team put a number of questions to the FarmaTrust team to help give Liquid users a deep dive into motivations and visions behind this project.

FarmaTrust is now live for trading on Liquid.

What is FarmaTrust?

FarmaTrust provides a service that allows pharmaceutical companies to track their products through the supply chain using blockchain technology. We track a product from the point of production to the point of consumption. As soon as it’s created, a fixed label is put on it and the tracking begins. We follow the whole process, from the manufacturer, through logistics, warehouses, customs and more, all the way to consumption. Consumption in this case refers to when the product is issued by the pharmacy or hospital.

We use blockchain because it is a great aggregator of the other systems used in this sector. Furthermore, the data collected is extremely important, and the nature of blockchain ensures it is kept safe. Blockchain is immutable and incorruptible, which is great in terms of security and regulation.

How does FarmaTrust stand out from other supply chain tracking companies?

One of the major benefits of using a system like ours is preventing counterfeit drugs entering the supply chain. Counterfeit drugs are a huge, global issue. Up to US$200 billion a year is made from the counterfeit drugs. Consumers receiving ineffective, incorrect, or even harmful medication is extremely dangerous.

We prevent counterfeit drugs from being able to enter the supply chain. Our labels are unique, and every label must be scanned. Counterfeit drug manufacturers will not be able to create fake labels, and if they try to copy other labels our system will flag it. If we recognise that an attempt has been made to place counterfeit drugs in the supply chain we can and will notify the relevant law enforcement. Counterfeit drugs usually try to enter the supply chain somewhere in the middle, where it is less checked and regulated. This is why we ensure that FarmaTrust secures the supply chain throughout the entire length of it.

FarmaTrust’s system is designed so it can be utilised in both, the developed and emerging markets. FarmaTrust created a cost effective mobile phone app so companies don’t have to install large scanning equipment. They just use the app and their mobile phone camera to scan the FarmaTrust labels. FarmaTrust have recently partnered with the Mongolian government to test a one-year project, aiming to prevent counterfeit medication production.

FarmaTrust’s system is also cost effective in the developed world. Supply chain participants are not required to change their existing structure, the use of APIs to plug into their ERM systems, allowing their existing scanning equipment to be used. The system can therefore run parallel with existing software, which is a unique selling point compared to other competitors. FarmaTrust can work with any type of sensor, so customers can continue to use whichever brand they prefer. This means cold storage and normal logistics supplies can be done.

Another big problem with pharmaceuticals is the expiration of drugs on the shelves. Billions of dollars are wasted in this way. Any drugs that are being traced in the FarmaTrust system will be flagged up when they are reaching expiry date so action can be taken. Most likely, the drugs will be routed to somewhere where they are needed.

How will you be using AI and big data analysis to improve this sector?

Running parallel with other systems results in FarmaTrust acquiring significant amounts of data. We can then complete large scale data analysis for many different tasks. For example, we use this data to automate services such as regulatory reporting, tax compliance and even automated payments. Artificial intelligence could also be used to do predictive supplies, which would control production rates so territories only got the supply they needed at a certain time.

What is your team’s background like?

Shahnawaz Aziz is FarmaTrust’s Chief Technology Officer. He is a senior technology with over 20 years of highly relevant experience, with a number of years being directly involved in blockchain. Most recently Shahnawaz was a part of nTrust, running their engineering departments. He has a number of patents related to blockchain.

The Chief Operating Officer of FarmaTrust is Peter Bryant. Peter is working on coordinating and managing the company’s business operations, with the goal of stopping counterfeit medication worldwide. Peter has successfully set up, grown and sold businesses, and was involved in a management buy in of Guardian IT, which was later floated on the London Stock Exchange.

Raja Sharif is the CEO. He is a barrister by background. Raja has been the head of legal for a number of large companies, including British Telecom and most recently Al Jazeera. Raja works to drive the company’s mission of tackling the global counterfeit pharmaceutical issue.

What gives your token value? Can you discuss the tokenomics?

FarmaTrust (FTT) is a true utility token. Users have to stake 100 FTT on our platform, which will provide them with tracking tokens called ZOI. The purpose of FTT is to allow users to participate in the ZOI ecosystem.

There are billions of packets of drugs in the world. ZOI tokens track drugs from production to consumption. This is already a fully working model. ZOI tokens are required for anyone to access the information collected by FarmaTrust. This includes the tracking data of the drugs. Therefore, FTT is required by all companies using FarmaTrust so they can stake it, and track their drugs using ZOI tokens. When 100 FTT is staked, 500 ZOI tokens are generated every 7 days. ZOI tokens are burnt once they are used in the ecosystem.

In order to track their products, pharmaceutical companies need to stake FTT. Staking 100 FTT allows the companies to generate some ‘Compliance Tracking Tokens’. They are not a crypto, they are just a digital reference of the unique product key, stored on a separate blockchain. Once the FTT tokens are staked, they are bound to the product until it reaches the end of the life cycle, meaning it has been sold or destroyed. Once this happens, the Compliance Tracking Tokens are burnt. When every Compliance Tracking Token has been burnt from the staked 100 FTT, the FTT bond is released from a smart contract and returned. This could be quite a long period of time, increasing the demand for FTT.

How to you plan to keep up with regulation in the pharma industry — specifically relating to Good Distribution Practice?

We are scheduled to become ISO 9000 certified, our first assessment will be in September. We are writing our own process and guidelines to show our clients that we will be adhering to GDP guidelines. Once we are ISO certified in September, it will show our compliance.


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