Indian information technology services company Tech Mahindra has partnered with startup StaTwig to manage the traceability of global vaccine supply on blockchain. Besides enhancing transparency across the supply chain and addressing counterfeiting, the VaccineLedger solution also aims to prevent issues such as expired vaccines.
The past few months have demonstrated that vaccine supply chains are complex and time-sensitive systems. Millions of Covid-19 vaccines are set to expire and be destroyed this summer despite shortages across the world. And almost 900 New Yorkers were vaccinated with expired vaccines. There are also issues with oversupply and opportunities for fraud. The Brazilian president is currently being investigated over corruption allegations relating to the price paid for Covid-19 vaccines.
StaTwig is part of the UNICEF Innovation Fund Portfolio and a World Economic Forum Global Innovator. The startup focuses on addressing supply chains of critical industries such as vaccines through scalable applications backed by blockchain technology.
Tech Mahindra and StaTwig will work with vaccine researchers, pharmaceutical companies, governments, distributors and health workers to build a global consortium around vaccine traceability. Tech Mahindra will contribute with its industry expertise and network, while StaTwig will provide the blockchain platform to manage vaccines’ supply chains.
VaccineLedger will enable immediate data sharing, authentication, and validation without the need for third party auditing. It can also assist with inventory management, vendor payments, IOT integration and smart contracts. It is designed to be integrated with existing management systems to remove barriers to adoption.
“Wastage of life saving drugs such as vaccines should be addressed on priority and we need to come together in order to effectively find a solution here,” said Tech Mahindra blockchain practice leader Rajesh Dhuddu. “Our strategic partnership with StaTwig will enable supply chain participants with a single application to enhance traceability, and chain of custody. This will not only ensure safety and validity of vaccine supply but also helps in adherence to complex regulatory requirements, set up by the Drug Administration Authority in any country.”
Meanwhile, Chronicled announced a collaboration with management consulting firm Deloitte to address counterfeiting in Covid-19 drug supply chains through its MediLedger blockchain. Moderna and IBM are exploring Covid-19 vaccine distributions, and Everyware launched a distributed ledger technology solution to monitor Covid-19 temperatures in storage rooms across NHS hospitals.
