1. Methods of Securing a Valuable Supply Chain
Focus on:
By Justin R. Romaine
INTRODUCTION
Global biopharmaceutical companiesas massive as Pfizer are developinga series of
active programs to ensure the integrity and safety of their brand. Their valuable
productsand supplyneed to be secured through the use of a perpetualsupplychain
networks. With the limited life time of patents, comes the challenge of keeping their
productscompetitive while preserving their exclusiveness to extend their ROI life
while maintaining their value to the consumer.
KEY FACTS
The Pfizer Company is a research-based producerof pharmaceuticals. They are
currentlyheadquarteredout of New York City but they also have many locations
operatingin several countries around the world. The Pfizer Company specializes in
vaccines, consumer products, and biopharmaceuticals. They have recentlystarted
“managing their commercial operationsthrough a new global Commercial structure
consisting of three operatingsegments, each of which is led by a single Manager: the
global innovative pharmaceutical segment (GIP); the global vaccines, oncology and
Consumer healthcaresegment (VOC); and the global established pharmaceutical
segment (GEP).” Over 16% of their business is located in these high risk markets.
When Pfizer lost the patentson the drugs Viagra, Xalatan, and Xalacom, Pfizer’s
revenues declined by over 9.4 billion dollars. Once the patents are expired on these
drugs, counterfeit productsstart flooding the market. In 2010 the counterfeit drug
market was estimated at over 75 billion dollars.
PURPOSE
Explore the potentialsecurity breaches within valuable supplychains and understandhow to
safe guard against these threats. With the various methods of intentionaladulteration, illegal
diversion, and counterfeitingof productsand packaging, how can these companies secure the
integrity and reliability of their products?The goal is to extend patentedproductsmaximum
profit margin over the longest possible period. How can companies achieve this?
LESSONS LEARNED
Security of compound productsthat are sourced globallydependson the ability to
collaboratein real time using best practices. Global supply leaderslike Pfizer are using a
centralizedplatform to exchange information regarding inventory, shipments,
components, and regulatory standardsfor their entire network. Controlsystems such as
serial coding tamper evident seals for perpetualinventory tracking are also being
enhanceddaily. Market monitoring and metric systems are also in placeto benchmark
company performance in the market with regards to corrivals in orderto stay competitive
and secure valuable resourcesexclusively. In addition they also have multiplesystems in
place to detect the counterfeitingand illegal diversion. These systems include a hybrid of
internal checks that are constantlybeing overseen by government regulatoryforces in
conjunctionwith entities like the World Health Organization, The PharmaceuticalCargo
Security Coalition,the PharmaceuticalSecurity Instituteand RX-360 in multiple regions
of the world.