Zuellig Pharma uses blockchain to fight counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines

To stop practitioners from delivering expired COVID-19 vaccines, Singaporean healthcare services business Zuellig Pharma is employing a blockchain-based system to monitor COVID-19 vaccinations.

Zuellig Pharma brings eZTracker

By allowing clients to instantaneously verify the provenance and authenticity of their vaccinations via a mobile app, Zuellig Pharma claims that the newly designed “eZTracker” management system aims to avoid the use of poorly stored or counterfeit vaccines.

Daniel Laverick, the vice-president and head of digital and data solutions at Zuellig Pharma, said that “accidents involving expired or improperly stored vaccines can be avoided” through the new system.

eZTracker uses the SAP blockchain to improve supply chain transparency and to gather, track, and trace multiple data points. The following is an explanation from the eZTracker website on how it works:

“Simply scan the QR code on the packaging to instantly verify if your product comes from an authorized distributor.”

Through its blockchain-powered app, patients can scan the 2D data matrix on the product packaging to validate crucial product information like expiry date, provenance, and temperature, Laverick explained.

SAP Blockchain runs as BaaS

The SAP Blockchain runs as a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform, allowing clients to create unique blockchain additions for their existing programs. According to SAP, its systems are involved in 77% of the world’s transaction revenue.

Zuellig Pharma worked with MSD to implement eQTrakcer in Hong Kong in 2020, where it was used to track vaccines for the Human Papilloma Virus, known as Gardasil.

“As the vaccines move through various handover points in the supply chain, the products’ data points are loaded into eZTracker’s secure blockchain ledger, and this ensures it can’t be tampered with,” Laverick noted at the time.

Zuellig Pharma is one of Asia’s leading healthcare service provider firms, having been founded 100 years ago. Zuellig also has a product called eZVax, which offers end-to-end vaccination management to ministries, local health authorities, and the private sector.

According to research by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Southeast Asia is a hotspot of fraudulent drugs, with between $520 million and $2.6 billion spent on them each year.

Before this as TheCoinRise reported, MDS Mexico launched a platform for COVID test reports integrating blockchain technology.