Kadena Blockchain Taps Healthcare Data Firm to Track Medical Cannabis Product

The first application on Kadena’s public blockchain is a tracking platform for CBD oil.

The platform is expected to launch after Kadena’s smart contract becomes fully functional on Jan. 15, 2020.

The cannabis project is only the first step for Kadena to tap into the multibillion-dollar healthcare industry, Will Martino, the firm’s CEO, said in an interview.

“We have much greater visions that include putting together a much larger healthcare data marketplace,” Martino said.

In the long term, Kadena hopes to achieve this goal via a partnership with Raleigh, N.C.-based Rymedi, a technology firm that provides data services for pharmaceutical, healthcare and other life-sciences companies and institutions.

In particular, Kadena and Rymedi could provide clients with an immutable and auditable record-keeping platform that could accelerate the drug approval process with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

Consumers will be able to scan QR codes on products and look up production records. Using prospective consumer feedback, Martino said Kadena could launch a similar platform for prescription drugs in the future. 

“This validates purchasing and authenticity, especially useful in geographies and industries where fraud and quality concerns remain potentially life-threatening issues,” Kadena said in a statement.

In April, Rymedi became one of the members of an FDA-approved consortium to study the use of blockchain technology to track and verify specialty prescription drugs in several U.S. states with a focus on intra- and inter-health system medication transport and usage.

“With their deep experience in financial markets and transaction data, Kadena is a uniquely aligned partner for us,” Rymedi CEO David Stefanich said in a statement.

Kadena claims to have one of the most scalable proof-of-work platforms for facilitating cross-chain transactions. It went live on Nov. 4 with plans to raise an additional $20 million in a November token sale. It raised approximately $15 million with the token sale closing on Nov. 29.

The firm will enable miners to trade KDA tokens on Dec. 7. People can use Kadena’s smart contracts with the tokens starting on Jan. 15.