Smart-Contract Based Framework for Online Pharmacy Product Anti-counterfeiting

Abstract

The role of online pharmacies in supplying pharmaceutical products has witnessed substantial growth. However, it is crucial to highlight that online platforms and supply chain infiltration constitute a significant portion of counterfeit pharmaceutical products, accounting for 40.9% of counterfeit product distribution; owing to their inherent characteristics, online pharmacies possess the capability to procure products from a diverse array of suppliers. The records utilized for consumers to verify product authenticity are centralized, rendering them susceptible to manipulation, including the potential inclusion of products from unregulated supply chains. The proposed framework capitalizes on the immutability of blockchain data to secure the integrity of authentication records and smart contracts to facilitate interaction with blockchain records. The study employed sequence diagrams to conceptualize the framework's design and utilized algorithms for its practical implementation. By incorporating smart-contracts and implementation of hashing for backend data records, consumers can place trust in the integrity of these records, which plays a pivotal role in authenticating pharmaceutical products distributed by online pharmacies.