O4S raises $6 mn to grab pharma orders after Union govt mandates QR code on API packs from Jan-2023

Bengaluru, March 12, 2022:

Indian pharma is now resolute to invest in platform technologies to accelerate connectivity, reliability, and visibility into the supply chain. This follows after the Union government notification for pharma manufacturers to include QR code in every API pack manufactured or imported in India by January 2023.

The move is to facilitate better trace and track of pharma products to avoid entry of counterfeits into the supply chain.

The biggest challenge for pharmaceutical companies with the Covid-19 pandemic is the disruption of supply chain. Further export-import restrictions and lockdowns also adversely affected the pharma supply chains.

According to Divay Kumar, co-founder & CEO, O4S which is a SaaS-based supply chain solution provider, efforts are on to bring more pharma companies on our platform which will help them strengthen business operations, lower supply chain cost, gain visibility on stock rotation, and achieve higher profits through optimal production planning and inventory management.

India and China, which are the hubs for API and formulation manufacture, encounter disruptions like production halts, inventory mismanagement, and counterfeit or substandard products entering the market. These can be addressed by bringing in SaaS-based supply chain solutions powered by next-gen technologies such as machine learning (ML) and the Internet of Things (IoT) where with a unique identity embedded into a QR code at each level of the packaging will ensure accurate data storage, he added.

The Gurugram-based O4S recently raised $6 million through a Series -A round with Think Investment and Venture Highway. Earlier, it raised $4 million from VCs, angel investors and $3 million in Pre-Series A funding led by Venture Highway.

Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, ML, big data analytics, and data science have drastically altered the way the pharma industry works. While the industry is moving towards Industry 4.0 to gain better control over production and get more visibility into the supply chain, the prevailing issue of counterfeiting is nowhere seen to be waning, Kumar told Pharmabiz.

Further, this pandemic has also disabled supply chains globally allowing counterfeiters to thrive with  fake products.  Interpol crackdown across 90 countries, exposed nearly 34,000 counterfeit surgical masks. Moreover, law enforcement agencies identified over 2,000 online websites marketing fake medical consumables, which also included medicines like  unauthorized antiviral medications,  antimalarial chloroquine, vitamin C, and painkillers The  second wave of Covid-19 in India, exposed  sale of fake vials remdesivir injections. Quoting the USTR, report, he said 20% of pharma goods sold in India are counterfeit. WHO warning on circulation of fake Covid-19 vaccines in the global market, further increases the need for QR code and tech-driven platforms for a foolproof supply chain. Pharmabiz