Problem statement

Compliance with the US Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) that calls for the tracking and authentication of returned drugs.

Approach

In 2017, SAP and its key co-innovators on this project – AmerisourceBergen, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline plc and Merck Sharp & Dohme – set out to develop an application to fulfill the DSCSA requirements.

SAP merged Cryptowerk’s Enterprise Blockchain Enablement Kit with the SAP Advanced Track and Trace solution, including its mobile component.

Technical details

SAP Pharma Blockchain POC app uses SAP Advanced Track and Trace and MultiChain blockchain for Pharmaceuticals. This app runs on a mobile Android/iOS device. It uses barcode scanning to provide real-time visibility to the location of drugs wherever they might be including the item number (based on GS1 standard), a serial number, a batch number, and an expiration date.

SAP launched this first Proof of Concept in Q3 2017, and a second one in early 2018. On January 16, 2019, SAP announced that its blockchain solution the “SAP Information Collaboration Hub for Life Sciences” has gone live for the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain.