Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we want to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 5 promising startups innovating in the pharma supply chain.
Heat Map: 5 Top Pharma Supply Chain Startups
For our 5 top picks, we used a data-driven startup scouting approach to identify the most relevant solutions globally. The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 interesting examples out of 396 relevant solutions. Depending on your specific needs, your top picks might look entirely different.
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BetterSense – Smart Cold Chain
Tracking the whereabouts of medical shipments is highly necessary in today’s world to tackle counterfeit or theft of medical supplies. Smart sensor networks help different supply chains to track and trace medical supplies using various parameters like temperatures, vibrations, shocks on impact, and locations. Additionally, sensor networks monitor shelf life deterioration forecasts in real-time and provide insights for critical decision making.
The Dutch-based startup BetterSense develops solutions to control and monitor pharma cold chains. Sensor networks help collect and monitor geo-position, transit damages, and shelf life deterioration of medical shipments. These networks gather actionable insights that aid the pharma supply chain and as a result enabling better visibility of the pharma supply chain and focus on the quality of service.
Blockchain Firm – Tamper-Proof Digital Ledger
Smart contracts help manage payments and root out fraudulent transactions and chargebacks effectively and efficiently. With the help of blockchain technology, smart contracts record tamper-proof data that even the stakeholders cannot change. The digital ledger collects and stores the data in a decentralized, shared, and distributed format that enables visibility to all stakeholders involved.
The French startup Blockchain Firm provides smart digital ledger solutions to manage vendors and suppliers of pharma companies. With the help of blockchain technology, smart ledgers collect and store all transaction data in a shared and tamper-proof network. As a result, the ledger allows for better transparency in the supply chain enabling management decisions in real-time.
nVipani – Connected Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Pharma supply chains involve a robust procurement environment for their everyday requirement. Using analytics to automate this process enables management to automate repetitive activities and derive insights to make decisions regarding critical levers like spends, cost implications, bottom line visibility, etc. Subsequently, this makes pharma supply chains leaner, faster, and more efficient.
The Indian startup nVipani provides procurement solutions for pharma companies to manage their day to day material procurement. Using real-time data to analyze various stages of the supply chain, such as raw material procurement, inventory consumption, and supply & demand planning, supports management to predict stockouts and other inventory-related hurdles. As a result, these analyses reduce costs and drive profitability.
UAV Works – Last-Mile Delivery
Drones play a key role in last-mile delivery in the pharma supply chain as they transport medical goods like tissue samples, blood, and fabricated prosthetics to remote areas where traditional transport access is limited. Moreover, autonomous drones also propagate an efficient last-mile delivery method in the pharma supply chain.
UAV Works, a Spanish startup, develops automated drones to transport medical supplies on short and long-range deliveries. The startup offers drones with a range of 40 km to 315 km depending on the payload. These drones also operate Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) resulting in longer flight distances. The sensors on-board the drones enable laser altitude precision control to avoid collisions mid-air and, as a result, improve overall drone control.
Vu360 Solutions – Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Based Inventory Management
Inventory control at the end of the pharma supply chain is essential due to roadblocks such as theft, counterfeiting, and diversion. AI-based warehouse management systems provide a seamless shift to autonomous inventory control. As a result, this simplifies reorder levels to the supplier who also benefits by reduced inventory carrying costs.
The US-based startup Vu360 Solutions provides AI-based warehouse management solutions to pharmaceutical companies. AI and analytics help analyze buying and selling patterns, peak times, lean times, etc, to predict stockouts and allows to track inventory. This especially supports management to keep a handle on the bottom line by reducing inventory carrying costs and balancing the threshold limit for maintaining lean inventory.
What About The Other 391 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence for your Proof of Concept (PoC), partnership, or investment targets. The 5 pharma supply chain startups showcased above are promising examples out of 396 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria and collaboration strategy, get in touch.
