Drug counterfeiting is a serious problem in the pharmaceutical industry. Here are some metrics revealed by the Health Research Funding Organization: Internet sales of counterfeit drugs account for $75 billion of the total market; In 2014, approximately 60 different Pfizer medicines and products were being counterfeited worldwide; The WHO estimates that 16% of counterfeit medicines contain the wrong ingredients, while 17% contain incorrect levels of the necessary ingredients. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThe main problem with counterfeit drugs is not that they are counterfeit, but rather that they can be very different from the original product in quantitative and qualitative manner. In fact, many of them do not contain the active ingredients they claim to contain. This can be dangerous for patients taking the counterfeit drug as it will not cure the disease. Furthermore, if the ingredients and dosages are different, the product can launch unexpected side effects that can lead to unpredictable conditions. As strongly highlighted by Anca PETRE, healthcare market analyst at Humaniq, the main advantage of blockchain technology for drug traceability is security. Each new transaction added to a block is immutable and time-stamped, making it easy to track a product and ensuring that information cannot be changed. A blockchain can be public or private. To ensure the origin and traceability of medicines, companies registering a product on the blockchain must be trustworthy. Therefore, only private blockchains controlled by a central entity are logical to ensure that counterfeit drugs are not registered. A company's access to the "drug blockchain" would therefore be proof that the drugs it produces are authentic. Anca PETRE says: “Pharmaceutical companies decide which actors in the supply chain act as miners. They could be manufacturers, distributors or retailers. Depending on the position in the supply chain, each person may have different rights: laboratories can register drugs while wholesalers they can only verify transactions “When a drug is produced, a block is created that contains all the relevant information about the product. Every time the drug moves from one entity to another, the information is stored on the blockchain, making it easier to track the drug. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay One One of the main issues today is the lack of harmony between the systems used to track drugs and, often, supply chain actors have limited insight into the origin and destination of the products they receive. Furthermore, if a problem is detected and a batch needs to be withdrawn from the market, blockchain technologies make it easier for the company to find its products and thus avoid any complications. Blockchain technologies help solve two main problems when it comes to drug traceability: first, it allows companies to trace their products along the supply chain, creating an airtight loop, impervious to counterfeit products. Secondly, it also allows interested parties, and in particular laboratories, to act retrospectively in case of a problem by identifying the exact location of their drugs.