(Rockville, MD, Thursday, May 21, 2020) – In late 2019, US Pharmacopeia (USP) and the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence (CCI) engaged more than 100 global experts in science and medicine in a virtual exercise to develop a set of scenarios about the future of trust in healthcare. The report, Trust or Consequences 2040: Will innovations in health and medicine deliver? describes four potential future worlds that could emerge by the year 2040 which are influenced by significant advances in technology and access to healthcare.

As COVID-19 was sweeping across the world, USP and MIT CCI also asked participants to identify the single biggest issue that should be addressed in order to ensure the availability of safe, quality medical products.

Many responses focused on the supply chain for drugs. Just-in-time (JIT) supply chain practices, which seek out the lowest cost producers and keep inventories at a minimum, were seen by respondents as a primary cause of drug shortages. While such practices have impacted drug prices, they don’t make for a resilient supply chain.

U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) is an independent, nonprofit, scientific organization that sets quality standards for medicines, dietary supplements and food ingredients worldwide. USP’s quality standards are enforceable in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration and integrated into law in over 40 countries. These standards, which are continuously developed and revised by more than 800 volunteer experts in science, industry, healthcare and academia, are also used in more than 150 countries.

Since its founding in 1820, USP has helped ensure the quality of the American drug supply. Building on its 200-year legacy, USP today works with scientists, practitioners, and regulators of many nations to protect and improve global health. From the standards USP creates, to the partnerships it fosters, USP continually works to build a world where everyone can trust in the quality of medicine and healthcare. USP has offices in the United States, Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, including five state-of-the-art laboratories, full-scale training facilities in Ghana and India, online and in-person training courses, and partnerships with national quality control laboratories around the world.