DRUG SHORTAGES

Drug shortages are impacting all types of healthcare institutions and most clinicians are impacted as well, both inside and outside the pharmacy.

Drug manufacturing and distribution is highly complex and is truly dependent on the global supply chain. Disruptions in the supply chain are inevitable, and the consequences can put patients’ treatment at risk.

The patient care is affected by delays in medication and inpatient setting, in outpatient infusions, immunization and further medical procedures.

Navigating through drug shortages costs time and money. Millions of additional personnel hours per year are spent to manage drug shortages by looking for alternatives. The mitigation strategies are inconsistent across different institutions. Hidden costs are significant as a result of additional staffing; loss of revenue due to delayed or cancelled procedures; personnel overtime spent on updating technology, managing critical drug lists and accessing therapies through non-traditional distribution channels; and documented medication errors.

Fortunately, such disruptions normally impact a limited number of markets, and the product remains available in other markets. Then, it is often possible to supply medicines temporarily from one country into another country via established regulatory pathways. Tecrapharm works with pharmaceutical companies, raw material producers, contract manufacturing organisations as well as drug buyers such as hospital pharmacies and purchase organizations by forecasting shortages with advanced analytics. We source and deliver prescription drugs, controlled substances, oncology biosimilars and vaccines in a global scale