ARMONK, N.Y., NEW YORK, KENILWORTH, N.J., and BENTONVILLE, Ark., June
13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM), KPMG, Merck
(NYSE: MRK), and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) today announced that the
companies have been selected by the United States Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to be included in a program in support of the
U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) that addresses
requirements to identify, track and trace prescription medicines
and vaccines distributed within the
United States.
The program is intended to assist drug supply chain
stakeholders, including FDA, in developing the electronic,
interoperable system that will identify and trace certain
prescription drugs as they are distributed within the United States.
"Our supply chain strategy, planning and logistics are built
around the customers and patients we serve," said Craig Kennedy, Senior Vice President, Supply
Chain, at Merck, which is known as MSD outside the U.S. and
Canada. "Reliable and verifiable
supply helps improve confidence among all the
stakeholders—especially patients—while also strengthening the
foundation of our business."
Each company brings unique expertise to the project, which will
create a shared permissioned blockchain network that allows
real-time monitoring of products. The proposed network is intended
to help reduce the time needed to track and trace inventory; allow
timely retrieval of reliable distribution information; increase
accuracy of data shared among network members; and help determine
the integrity of products in the distribution chain, including
whether products are kept at the correct temperature.
"With successful Blockchain pilots in pork, mangoes and leafy
greens that provide enhanced traceability, we are looking forward
to the same success and transparency in the biopharmaceutical
supply chain," said Karim Bennis,
Walmart's Vice President of Strategic Planning and Implementation,
Health and Wellness. "We believe we have to go further than
offering great products that help our customers live better at
everyday low prices. Our customers also need to know they can trust
us to help ensure products are safe. This pilot and U.S. Drug
Supply Chain Security Act requirements will help us do just
that."
Blockchain is designed to establish a permanent record and may
be integrated with existing supply chain and traceability
systems.
"Blockchain could provide an important new approach to further
improving trust in the biopharmaceutical supply chain," said
Mark Treshock, IBM Global Solutions
Leader for Blockchain in Healthcare & Life Sciences. "We
believe this is an ideal use for the technology because it can not
only provide an audit trail that tracks drugs within the supply
chain; it can track who has shared data and with whom, without
revealing the data itself. Blockchain has the potential to
transform how pharmaceutical data is controlled, managed, shared
and acted upon throughout the lifetime history of a drug."
IBM, KPMG, and Walmart, the largest retailer in the U.S., have
extensive experience in implementing blockchain solutions to help
enhance the safety and traceability of products. Increasingly,
customers are requesting more detailed information about
products.
"Blockchain's innate ability within a private, permissioned
network to provide an 'immutable record' makes it a logical tool to
deploy to help address DSCSA compliance requirements," said
Arun Ghosh, KPMG Blockchain Leader.
"The ability to leverage existing cloud infrastructure is making
enterprise blockchain increasingly affordable and adaptable,
helping drug manufacturers, distributors and dispensers meet their
patient safety and supply chain integrity goals."
The pilot project is scheduled to be completed in fourth quarter
of 2019, and results are expected to be published in an FDA DSCSA
program report. At that time, the project's participants will
evaluate next steps.
About the DSCSA pilot program
DSCSA was enacted by
Congress on Nov. 27, 2013. It
outlines steps to build an electronic, interoperable system to
identify and trace certain prescription drugs as they are
distributed in the United States.
The DSCSA pilot project program is intended to help identify and
evaluate the most efficient processes to comply with and apply drug
supply chain security requirements. The program will aid in
identifying attributes the system will need for enhanced product
tracing and verification, as well as electronic means to share the
information. The FDA will be sharing new approaches considered
through this program with the broader drug supply chain community
on the agency's website. Our goal is to ensure that all parties can
be apprised of the program's progress and take advantage of any
shared learning.
About IBM Blockchain
IBM is recognized as the leading
enterprise blockchain provider. The company's research, technical
and business experts have broken barriers in transaction processing
speeds, developed the most advanced cryptography to secure
transactions, and are contributing millions of lines of open source
code to advance blockchain for businesses. Since 2016, IBM has
worked with hundreds of clients across financial services, supply
chain, government, retail, digital rights management and healthcare
to implement blockchain applications, and operates a number of
networks running live and in production. The cloud-based IBM
Blockchain Platform delivers the end-to-end capabilities that
clients need to quickly activate and successfully develop, operate,
govern and secure their own business networks. IBM is an early
member of Hyperledger, an open source collaborative effort created
to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies. For more
information about IBM Blockchain, visit
https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/ or follow us on Twitter at
@ibmblockchain.
About KPMG
KPMG LLP is the independent U.S. member
firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG
International's independent member firms have 207,000 professionals
in 153 countries and territories. Learn more at www.kpmg.com/us.
The KPMG and IBM Alliance brings together IBM's technology and
KPMG's advisory and tax services, combining in-depth industry
knowledge of key business issues to deliver innovative solutions
for clients. Visit the KPMG and IBM alliance website for more
information. Some or all of the services described herein may not
be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates or
related entities.
About Merck
For more than a century, Merck, a leading
global biopharmaceutical company known as MSD outside of
the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing
forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most
challenging diseases. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines,
biologic therapies and animal health products, we work with
customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver
innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to
increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies,
programs and partnerships. Today, Merck continues to be at the
forefront of research to advance the prevention and treatment of
diseases that threaten people and communities around the world –
including cancer, cardio-metabolic diseases, emerging animal
diseases, Alzheimer's disease and infectious diseases including HIV
and Ebola. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect
with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
About Walmart
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people
around the world save money and live better - anytime and anywhere
- in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each
week, over 275 million customers and members visit our more than
11,300 stores under 58 banners in 27 countries and eCommerce
websites. With fiscal year 2019 revenue of $514.4 billion, Walmart employs more than 2.2
million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in
sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity.
Additional information about Walmart can be found by
visiting http://corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook at
http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/walmart.
Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc.,
Kenilworth, N.J., USA
This
news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (the "company") includes
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor
provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and
expectations of the company's management and are subject to
significant risks and uncertainties. There can be no guarantees
with respect to pipeline products that the products will receive
the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be
commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate
or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ
materially from those set forth in the forward-looking
statements.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general
industry conditions and competition; general economic factors,
including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations;
the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care
legislation in the United States
and internationally; global trends toward health care cost
containment; technological advances, new products and patents
attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product
development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company's
ability to accurately predict future market conditions;
manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of
international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the
effectiveness of the company's patents and other protections for
innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including
patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.
The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause
results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements can be found in the company's 2018
Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company's other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC's
Internet site (www.sec.gov).
Media Contacts:
IBM
Leesa D'Alto
Leesa.dalto@ibm.com
212-671-9806
KPMG
Bill Borden,
201-505-6351, wborden@kpmg.com
Jamie Bredehoft, 201-419-4547,
jbredehoft@kpmg.com
Merck
Pam Eisele
Pamela_eisele@merck.com
267-305-3558
Walmart
Marilee
McInnis
1-800-331-0085
news.walmart.com/reporter
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SOURCE IBM