Mitsubishi Develops Blockchain Tracking Solution for Pharmaceutical Shipments

Mitsubishi Logistics has utilized the potential of blockchain to enable customers to monitor contracted pharmaceutical deliveries, therefore ensuring that the items remain in optimal conditions throughout the journey. The firm developed a cooled delivery service seven years back that complies with tougher regulations for the shipping of medications, known as Good Distribution Practice (GDP), which the European Union, Japan, and other countries have adopted. Its novel ML Chain solution enables customers to monitor when goods changed ownership, and also their temperature as well as other data.

Cloud-based data sharing is made tamper-resistant via the use of blockchain technology. Using distributed ledgers also ensures that even system issues will not affect the whole platform and that information will stay safe. ML Chain can now trace pharmaceutical factory and logistics hub supplies to wholesalers. Takeda Pharmaceutical in Japan is already employing it in several of its offerings.

In the future, Mitsubishi Logistics plans to extend ML Chain to include delivery from wholesalers to clinics and pharmacies, and also overseas exports. It views the cloud service as a tool for quality control and inventory control, in addition to a precaution against counterfeit medications. The Mitsubishi group firm will also investigate utilizing ML Chain to assist in the development of new, secure direct-to-consumer distribution networks, and will evaluate information collected by the system to enhance supply chains.

The initiatives of Mitsubishi Logistics are in response to the international need for more stringent medicine shipping regulations to ensure their safety and efficacy. Four years back, the Japanese government issued GDP rules. COVID-19 has only increased the need for the correct carriage of vaccinations and other medications.

Back in October, Mitsubishi Logistics opened a distribution facility for medical items in Ibaraki, a city close to Osaka. In November , the business stated that it will extend its GDP-compliant facility framework for room-temperature delivery of medical supplies. To accomplish this, it will expand its fleet of distribution vans to reach more locations.

As per the Yano Research Institute, the pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing sectors’ logistics outsourcing industry exceeded 110 billion yen ($778 million) in fiscal year 2020, up 3.8% increase from the previous year. As the number of medicines sent and the pace of outsourcing to allocation businesses continues to expand, there is an increasing trend toward selecting distributors on the basis of their quality-management platforms.