Blockchain technology in the pharmaceutical industry: a systematic review

PeerJ Computer Science

Mala Alharbi¹  Rana Alomar¹  Muna Al-Razgan¹  Heba Al saigh¹  Amani Alsaadi¹  Haya Alshareef¹  Lamia Alashaikh¹  Seham Alotaibi¹  Nazik Zakari² 

[1] Department of Software Engineering, College of Computer and Information Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Nursing Department, College of Applied Sciences, Al Maarefa University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;

关键词: Blockchain;    Pharmaceutical industry;    Drug traceability;    Counterfeit drugs;    Drug safety and security;    Systematic literature review;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj-cs.840

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Blockchain technology is accelerating digital transformation across multiple industries, including the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry suffers from a lack of transparency, difficulty tracking products, lack of trust, and the shipment of expired products. Blockchain technology has been applied to solve several of these problems. In this paper, we present a systematic review of the literature focusing on the adoption of blockchain technology in the pharmaceutical industry. We collected, analyzed, qualified, and discussed studies retrieved from seven databases. The initial search yielded 2,185 papers, which were screened, discussed, voted on, critically appraised, and collected by a snowball workflow that finally yielded 38 papers. The blockchain application areas covered in the papers were classified as counterfeit drug prevention, drug distribution, tracking and tracing, and safety and security. The most frequent category was counterfeit drug prevention, which is consistent with the primary objective of the pharmaceutical industry. The newer topics discussed in this study were data governance, data quality, pharmaceutical turnover, and prescription drug monitoring. We discuss issues surrounding each of these topics and research studies, along with their limitations and solutions. We also examine the challenges and future research directions of applying blockchain technology in the pharmaceutical industry.

【 授权许可】

Unknown