Do pharmaceutical laboratories use a federated network of Blockchain, AI and Machine Learning to efficiently combat COVID-19?

Since its inception in Wuhan in December 2019, it has affected the way we relate and interact as companies and as professionals. It has spread to more than 120 countries and to date there are more than 400,000 infected people and it has claimed more than 18,000 lives. It is a human tragedy.

Pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology development centres, public and private researchers must share and collaborate in a federated way in order to obtain better results in less time.

The benefits of sharing and collaboration are evident from monitoring the detection, control and follow-up of positives to the real-time spread of the virus in carriers. So let’s look at the different phases.

Exploratory phase

This is an intensive research phase where the antigen, a substance used to induce an immune response in the body, is identified. Scientists often isolate the virus to identify its genome sequence, which biotechnology companies then use as a starting point to identify the antigens. With hundreds of sequences identified by scientists around the world, Blockchain can serve as a collaborative mechanism for sharing evidence of tamper-proof genetic material with a time stamp that can be used to trace each sequence back to its source when needed.

Pre-clinical phase

This is the phase where the vaccine concept is developed, developing a candidate vaccine and evaluating its efficacy in test tubes and animals. The test results, if available at Blockchain, emphasize authenticity and provide a single shared source of truth for anyone in the world considering their next steps based on the vaccine’s efficacy. With Blockchain biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies can collaborate and share their findings with each other without fear of losing their Intellectual Property rights and developing the vaccine more quickly.

Clinical development phase

This is the phase where vaccines are tested at different stages of development in humans after being approved by the Health Authority. This is a crucial phase in which the response of the human body and adverse effects must be recorded with due diligence and studied in depth before the vaccine is approved for wider adoption. It is based on rigorous ethical principles that include the informed consent of volunteers, with emphasis on vaccine safety and efficacy, so that registration in Blockchain on a pseudonymous basis without any personally identifiable information being revealed respects their privacy and personal data, which would encourage more people to join the process, saving privacy issues.

The efficacy and side effects of the tested vaccine among a large group of people can be tracked at each stage of the clinical trials in Blockchain, which serves as a powerful test for the Health Authority and other agencies to approve or refuse to license the drug.

Regulatory review and approval phase

The Health Authority can participate in the network of biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical companies, and also actively monitor clinical trials and use this information in the approval process. A federated network of nodes allows it to have the monitoring, follow-up and control that the clinical trials follow the pre-determined protocols.

Mass production and distribution phase

The registration of the manufacturing process in Blockchain’s traceable and immutable ledger will ensure faster standards verification, as there is a more efficient and quicker administrative process. The partners’ facilities can also collaborate with each other to streamline the manufacturing and distribution processes, making them more efficient and less costly. Tracking the shipment of these medicines and recording the process at Blockchain will also help to address the problem of counterfeiting.

Quality control phase

Various health professionals and service providers who access this vaccine can use Blockchain to record the performance and effectiveness of the vaccine, which can be used by various stakeholders in this ecosystem to get a first-hand, real-time view of the vaccine’s effectiveness.

Blockchain may not be the solution to all the world’s problems, but it can certainly help to find a solution to this COVID-19 pandemic faster than working in isolation. With Blockchain we contribute to overcome individualisms and to make life on our planet more sustainable, and especially to save human lives.