How Pharma Companies Manage Commercial Supply Chains
The pharmaceutical supply chain is a complex network of processes that works together to ensure patients receive vital medicines promptly and safely. Supply chains can be challenging, and managing them well is the key to successful pharmaceutical business.
This blog post explores how companies in the pharmaceutical space manage commercial supply chains and what challenges they may need to overcome.
Commercial Supply Chains in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Competition is fierce in the pharmaceutical industry, and regulations are extremely strict. Pharmaceutical supply chains are subsequently tied to both compliance and profitability, two often competing business metrics that depend on traceability when it comes to supply chain management.
Additionally, there are many stakeholders and potential challenges that must be considered. Some stakeholders include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, pharmacies and patients. Managing each effectively can be carried out through traceability systems, supply chain managers or a combination of both.
There are five main stages of a typical pharmaceutical supply chain:
- Pharmaceutical products are produced at the manufacturing site to meet market demand.
- Products are transported to distributors. Manufacturers manage this process to ensure they are delivered to the distributors, as they are sometimes mistakenly delivered directly to the pharmacies.
- Products are delivered to pharmacies (which include hospitals, web-based companies, retail pharmacies, and more). The products are delivered by the manufacturers or by wholesale distributors.
- Pharmacies process the products through pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and their systems. Despite not being a direct part of the supply chain, PBMs play a key role in consumer drug purchases. Their role is to manage purchases by defining how much money will be paid by each party.
- Pharmaceutical products are dispensed, meaning they are given to the patients, by the last link in the supply chain: pharmacies. They provide key information to all stakeholders in the chain and are responsible for ensuring customers know how to safely and appropriately use the drugs they are taking.
Commercial Supply Chain Management with DSI
Being able to provide a continuous supply of goods to the market is vital for maintaining a reputable business. In order to do so, organizations need to be able to manage their clinical and commercial supply chain operations. DS InPharmatics consultants can provide support with supply chain management as well as overall strategies and implementation to make sure your business is running as smoothly as possible.
Our list of services includes the following:
- CMO and CPO selection and management,
- Contingency strategies,
- Cost of goods evaluation,
- End-to-end supply chain assessment,
- Forecasting,
- Inventory strategies,
- Supply chain optimization
DSI offers a wide variety of services to help support, manage and improve your business. Our team of expert consultants have decades of experience across every stage of the product development process and they also cover regulatory and technical project management consulting services. Ready to start your journey with DS InPharmatics? Get in touch with us today.
