Frequently drugs are returned to pharmaceutical manufacturers, and instead of destroying them they re-sell them. While the proportion of drugs may be small at 2-3% of sales, the value exceeds $6 billion a year. Wholesalers may order too much and hence return the unsold stock.
SAP is working with a group of manufacturers on a blockchain project to verify the returns are original products.
The global counterfeit market could be as big as $200bn a year
according to Reuters. In third world countries, the proportion of counterfeit drugs is very high. But even in the developed world, you could buy life-saving medicine from your local pharmacy which was previously returned. If the manufacturer didn’t adequately verify the return, your drugs could be fake.
Legislation
Both the EU and the US have introduced legislation to deal with the issue.
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