Fears pharma sector will miss interoperability deadline, blockchain or not

US legislation is forcing trading parties in the pharmaceutical supply chain to become interoperable by 2023. You’d think breaking up the task into piecemeal deadlines would make it easier to comply with the 2023 deadline. But it could make it harder. Some have doubts the industry can meet the deadline for the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). “I don’t think there’s any chance we’re going to meet the 2023 DSCSA deadline even with a non-blockchain solution,” says Jeffrey Stollman, an industry consultant. He believes the challenge is governance. “You need to have some rules, and there’s no organization structure right now to create those rules.”

Pharmaceutical industry fragmentation

Stollman listed thirty industry bodies who could get involved in such a process. Apart from the manufacturers and wholesalers, you have the hospitals, pharmacies, and numerous other groups. Stolman believes you need a non-profit to bring the industry together and the Center for Supply Chain Studies could fit the bill.

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