Evaluating The Role of NEXUS Blockchain Technology in Preventing Counterfeit Drugs: A Task-Technology Fit and DEMATEL Approach

Abstract

Counterfeit drugs pose a significant threat to global public health and safety, including treatment failure, disease spread, and loss of public trust in healthcare systems. The pharmaceutical industry has acknowledged the importance of implementing novel technologies to improve the supply chain. Pharmaceutical industries have increasingly adopted innovative technologies to increase security and traceability within supply chains, especially Blockchain technology such as Ethereum and NEXUS Platform. Blockchain technology represents an alternative solution, and in this research study, the NEXUS blockchain technology's contribution to pharmaceutical supply chains by exploring its ability to combat counterfeit drugs is examined. Three primary methods were employed. First was an analysis of the literature using the PRISMA methodology, which identified counterfeit issues before considering what potential solutions blockchain technology could bring to address these issues. Second, this research employs the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) model to measure how effectively NEXUS supports pharmaceutical tasks, including inventory management, tracking & tracing, authentication, fraud detection, secure transactions, recall management, and bottleneck identification. Finally, we conduct a DEMATEL analysis to examine the cause-and-effect relationships among key blockchain features such as decentralization, immutability, smart contracts, data encryption, real-time monitoring, and transparency. Results demonstrate the efficacy of blockchain in combatting counterfeit drugs depends on the key factors of decentralization and data encryption while transparency and real-time monitoring require further refinement. NEXUS blockchain technology's potential is evidenced in these findings as it revolutionizes pharmaceutical supply chains with enhanced security, traceability, and transparency.