Pharmaceutical Supply Chain India

The pharmaceutical supply chain in India is highly fragmented and complex. With multiple stakeholders involved from import of API's, to manufacturing, to distributors, pharmacies, hospitals and finally the patients - maintaining access and availability become the crucial for any healthcare organization.

India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally and is the world's third largest pharmaceutical market globally in terms of volume. And yet, an estimated 50% of the population in India does not have regular access to essential medicines. Manufacturing the medicines that are needed in the market is only the first step towards providing quality healthcare for all. Getting these medicines to the patients who need them and at the right time is a complex logistical effort – one that can be the difference between life and death for many people. Needless to say, then, that expanding healthcare access is a critical priority for public and private sector alike. And while many initiatives have been taken in this direction, a lot still needs to be done.

Overview

Typically a pharmaceutical supply chain includes many stakeholders both pre and post the drug launch. In this article however we will restrict ourselves to the stakeholders and processes which include multiple government agencies, hospitals, drug manufacturers, drug distributors, pharmacy chains, local pharmacists, RnD organizations etc. To complicate matters further, the same supply chain is responsible for the distribution of prescription drugs, over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, generics, as well as biologics having different handling and logistical needs. The major stakeholders of the pharma supply chain in India are as follows:

Manufacturers

Indian market consists of about 1000+ pharma companies with top 50 pharmaceutical manufacturers making up 70% of the market. Some of these top manufacturers include Sun pharmaceuticals, Aurobindo Pharma Limited, Lupin Limited, Cipla Limited, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Cadila Healthcare Limited, Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited, Glenmark Pharma Limited, Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited, ManKind Pharma Limited, Biocon Limited, Piramal Enterprises Limited, Wockhardt Limited, Divis Laboratories Limited, Abbott India Limited and many more.

C&F Agents

C&F or carrying and forwarding agents are a link between the manufacturers of medicines and owners of means of transport. For pharmaceuticals industry specialized C&F agents with special know how of processes, documentation, and physical environment of goods are especially required to maintain the quality and sanctity of the drug throughout the transfer. Each pharma company either has own or partner C&F which are about 300-500 in total in the country currently.

Distributors

Pharmaceutical distributors purchase prescription medicines and other medical products directly from C&F agents for storage distribution centers across the country. Licensed pharmacies, hospitals and healthcare providers place orders with distributors for the medicines and products they need, and the distributors process and deliver the orders daily. There are about 65000 distributors in the country right now.

Pharmacies

Main Article: Pharmacies

A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist's" in Commonwealth English) is a retail shop which provides prescription drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacist oversees the fulfillment of medical prescriptions and is available to give advice on their offerings of over-the-counter drugs. In India, there are about 800k+ pharmacies with more than 50% present in metro and tier I cities. Pharma retail play in India is largely unorganized, Retail chains and Online contribute less than 10% in total sales.

The Challenge of Fragmentation

With a large and fragmented stakeholder group leads to high inefficiencies within the Indian Pharma Supply Chain. The margins remain under-optimized and resources are spread far out and thin. A major demand and supply mismatch exists due to lack of information sharing. The lack of access to medicines is a result of many issues that include policies, manufacturing, regulatory frameworks and many more, however at the nerve center of all these, are the chinks in the distribution system that undermine efforts to improve availability like:

• Gaps in stock availability

• Limited access to stockists by a retailer

• Inadequate information on new drugs to retailers

• Lack of visibility through the supply chains

• Lack of last mile connect
• Inefficiency of finance management in downstream value chain
• Lack of distribution muscle among regional players

The Solution in Automation

Connection is key

The number of supply chain partners (suppliers, contract manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and third-party logistics partners, retailers among others) is higher than ever before. A lack of integration across this supply chain network hinders with access to healthcare products. Cloud-based networks like Pharmarack make it much easier to link all players through a single integrated network, even those with different IT architectures or ERP systems, thus making networks more scalable.

The Phygital supply chain

Pharma supply chains have traditionally been characterized by long lead times, manual ordering, lack of visibility of inventories and absence of any real-time data. All this stems from a lack of technology implementation at ground level. The digitization of sourcing and procurement processes changes how companies interact with their suppliers, and how the various levels of supply chain interact with each other. This can greatly reduce the complexity of pharma supply chains.

Ultimately technology and digitization are only enablers of an actual on-ground business. Organizations need physical movement of goods along the entire supply chain without compromising the efficacy and efficiency of the system. Retailers can get visibility of stock available with distributors, but having this information is only half a job done.The goal is to eventually deliver these drugs to the patients who need them and at the right time.

Many technology players in India are transforming the way healthcare industry operates currently. Some of them are:

1. Pharmarack : An integrated B2B Healthcare platform that claims to combine Technology, Analytics, Logistics, Supply Chain & Financing. It partners with various stakeholders of pharma supply chain, including but not limited to pharmacies, distributors, healthcare providers, manufacturers and even public health enterprises
2. PurpleMR : A cloud based offering that digitises Indoor Patient Records and Diagnostics and making them accessible and analyzable online
3. Zyla: A patient health management platform that guides patients through daily management of many disorders

Digitization has the potential to fundamentally transform pharma operations, opening the door to radical shifts in performance and capabilities. Pharma companies need to get started on this journey immediately, taking steps to digitize their operations and supply chains and develop a strategic road map for the next three to five years. Those companies that seize the initiative can give themselves a sustainable competitive advantage; operate with greater agility, cost-efficiency, and control; and ultimately provide better healthcare access for patients.

References

This article "Pharmaceutical Supply Chain India" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Pharmaceutical Supply Chain India. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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