Pharmaceutical quality control labs must prove to regulators that their test data have not been altered, a requirement known as data integrity under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). ARXUM, a software company in Kaiserslautern, built B-LOCS, a system that records in real time every event on the files of laboratory software on a blockchain, so any change to raw data leaves a trace.
The European Innovation Council granted €1,538,250 towards a €2.27 million project that ran from July 2022 to June 2024. In January 2024, before the project ended, a provisional insolvency administrator was appointed for ARXUM, and in April 2024 the company entered liquidation, according to German register data compiled by North Data. Its former domain, arxum.com, now hosts an unrelated trading blog.
Company file
- Legal entity
- ARXUM GmbH i. L., HRB 32736, Amtsgericht Kaiserslautern
- Registered name
- Since June 2019, renamed from a shelf company
- Business
- Blockchain software for manufacturing companies
- Product
- B-LOCS, blockchain-based laboratory operations control
- Affiliates in project
- Entities in France and Bulgaria
- Status
- Provisional insolvency administrator January 2024 (Trier local court, 23 IN 11/24); liquidation April 2024
- EIC project
- B-LOCS, 1 Jul 2022 to 30 Jun 2024, closed
- EIC funding
- Grant first
What Happened to ARXUM
According to the register entries summarised by North Data, the local court of Trier appointed a provisional insolvency administrator for ARXUM by an order of 24 January 2024 (case 23 IN 11/24), published on 7 February 2024, and on 9 April 2024 the company entered liquidation; its name now carries the suffix "i. L." (in Liquidation). We found no public statement by the company. Its web domain has been taken over: the current arxum.com describes itself as "a strategy-research lab for forex, crypto, and derivatives markets" and has no link to the Kaiserslautern company.
The Technology: A Tamper-Proof Lab Log
According to the CORDIS fact sheet, B-LOCS "records in real time the events that occur on the files from the lab software" and detects alterations to raw data caused by errors or non-compliance with GMP. Records are stored in smart contracts on a blockchain, and deviations trigger configurable alerts.
"A first commercialisation is underway with selected pilot customers."
B-LOCS report, CORDISWhat the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
B-LOCS promised a "fully digital blockchain-based laboratory operations control system for real-time and audit-proof Good Manufacturing Practice conformity". The CORDIS report describes user interface work, a move of the software to the NestJS framework, a workflow configurator and blockchain infrastructure for testing, and says a first commercialisation was under way with pilot customers. It names no customers and gives no numbers, and it does not mention the insolvency.
- A working B-LOCS systemDeliveredSoftware developed, per CORDIS.
- Pilot customersPartial"Underway"; none named.
- Market launchMissedCompany liquidated.
- A company that continuesMissedInsolvent, January 2024.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The Money
The award was "grant first"; we found no EIC Fund investment. The German register shows ARXUM's share capital at €40,562 in 2021; its investors and accounts were not accessible for this article.
What cannot be checked
How much of the €1.54 million grant was paid out before the insolvency, whether the EU has a claim in the liquidation, who the pilot customers were and what happened to the software are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
Drug makers must be able to prove their lab data are genuine, and B-LOCS aimed at that need. This case also raises a question about EIC reporting: the project's public results speak of commercialisation under way and do not mention that the company became insolvent before the project ended.
What the project promised
A fully digital, audit-proof blockchain system for GMP-compliant laboratory operations.
What the record shows
Software and pilot talks, then insolvency before the project ended, liquidation and a lost domain.
The Verdict
Insolvent mid-project
B-LOCS built its software, but ARXUM ran out of money before the project was finished. The EU's public record of the project does not mention the insolvency, and there is no sign the product survives.
ARXUM is in liquidation and could not be asked for comment. This article is based on EU project data and German register information, linked throughout.
