In a convenience-led and increasingly globalised world where people are turning en-mass to the internet to buy almost everything, including their medicine, counterfeit drugs are becoming a very real threat. From children's cough syrup found to contain powerful opioids to fake birth control pills, it doesn't take a genius to see that the consequences of this illicit $30 million trade can entail a grave human cost. The World Health Organisation has estimated that as many as one in 10 drugs sold in developing countries is fake or of an inadequate standard , and it is estimated that between 120,000 and a million people die as a consequence of fake drugs each year . Many of the victims are African children given bogus treatments for pneumonia and malaria, although the problem extends to everything from cancer drugs to contraceptives. Current measures and fail-safes are clearly letting us down. This needs to stop; we need a smarter solution and fast.

When conventional measures fail to deliver the necessary results, new disruptive systems emerge.

Enter, FarmaTrust, an exciting blockchain startup from here in the UK that is proposing to combine the power of artificial intelligence and blockchain to deliver a much-needed breakthrough solution to this stubborn global problem. Their vision? A highly-responsive worldwide tracking system that will provide security to pharmaceutical companies, NGOs, government regulators – and, of course, the average person on the street – by ensuring that bogus medicines are locked out of the supply chain. Transparency will be ensured through the use of distributed ledger technology, and a powerful arsenal of AI and data analytic solutions will guarantee that bad actors and dangerous products are quickly identified and eliminated – as well as conferring numerous additional benefits in terms of supply chain and distribution efficiency (which would help eliminate price distortions).

The key strengths of their project include:

A hardware agnostic approach – FarmaTrust’s approach ensures system neutrality, which guarantees their technology works with legacy hardware and software: essential when production often takes place in the developing world.

A high degree of scalability and future-proofing – FarmaTrust is taking pains to ensure their project stays at the forefront of the industry by embracing cutting edge developments, not only in terms of the blockchain and AI, but also relating to the Internet of Things, smart labelling and radio frequency identity tagging.

Reach – they are dedicated to ensuring their platform achieves global coverage, in fact, just last year they signed a one-year partnership the Mongolian government, giving them an immediate foothold in Asia – a critical market

Regulation Compliant – If you’ve been paying attention to the recent bloodbaths, it’s clear that digital assets need to be more robust in the fact of regulation. Farmatrust’s system is being built from the ground up to comply with differing international regulatory standards, which will be absolutely essential in a field as sensitive and emotive as the pharmaceutical industry.

Security and Confidentiality – Farmatrust’s system deploys zero-knowledge proof mechanisms to keep confidential and commercial data secure, whilst permitting verification across different entities, continents and regions.

So there you have it – an innovative new blockchain project responding to an urgent real world problem. Although I must stress that this isn’t investment advice and I’m certainly not telling you to run straight out and put all your money into their ICO without a moment’s pause for thought, I do think FarmaTrust is a uniquely promising project on the brink of accomplishing some extremely valuable things, and I would urge you to check them out and do your due diligence. If you’re anything like me, you will probably end up feeling encouraged and inspired.

But as far as I see it, when it comes to fake drugs – this could be the real solution.

Fake Drugs Are A Major Global Problem: Farmatrust Is The Solution

Further Reading: