Cry of alarm from drug wholesalers: unsustainable costs. Scaccabarozzi: risk of drug shortage

Wholesalers, alarm on the economic sustainability of pharmaceutical distribution

Skyrocketing energy costs, fuel price increases and NHS remuneration at stake. Adf writes to the Government: "Urgent measures or there is the risk of not being able to supply pharmacies"

Aboutpharma  – 28 febbraio 2022

The drug distribution chain is in trouble. The surge in energy prices, the increases in fuel prices and the blockages of hauliers in recent days add up to the sustainability problems repeatedly reported by wholesalers, above all due to the under-remuneration of medicines reimbursed by the National Health Service (NHS) . Adf, the association of pharmaceutical distributors, has written to the government to ask for urgent measures.

Deliveries to pharmacies at risk

“The pandemic was not enough to make it more complicated to maintain the essential public service that drug distribution companies ensure to pharmacies and citizens, despite the under-remuneration that it is imposed by law”, comments the president of ADF, Walter Farris. “Today the situation is even more serious and the availability of medicines, vaccines, medical devices and health products in pharmacies to citizens is seriously endangered by the risks associated with external factors. The increase in energy and fuel costs, the blockages of supply and movement of goods and the unrest of hauliers – continues Farris – put at risk the regular supply of goods to our operators. There could be major repercussions on deliveries to pharmacies resulting in shortages of medicines that our distributors are doing their best to avoid."

Increasingly unsustainable costs

In some Regions they are reported major delays in the delivery of the goods to distributors and, warns the association, pharmacies could be left with some empty shelves. “Adf is active in monitoring the situation and reporting the most critical situations so that the appropriate corrective measures can be promptly taken. Our companies ensure the management of the products in air-conditioned rooms and at controlled temperatures. The surge in electricity and gas bills, together with the higher costs of special packaging for the cold chain, the cost of fuel for widespread and timely transport to pharmacies and parapharmacies located throughout the area, even in the most disadvantaged areas to reach, are having a dramatic impact on the economic sustainability of our services".

The appeal

Adf's appeal is addressed to the Government and in particular to the Ministers of Health and the Economy: "We ask to activate urgent and urgent cyclical and structural measures with interventions to safeguard our category and the entire drug supply chain - concludes Farris – and we are immediately ready for discussion and collaboration”.

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Ucraina, Farmindustria: “Saliranno i costi e c’è il rischio di carenza dei medicinali

Scaccabarozzi: “Caro energia pesante, per imprese aumenti del 150% e ora difficoltà su materiali imballaggio”

Repubblica – 25 febbraio 2022

Il mercato mondiale “era in tensione da prima” della guerra. E quindi “l’impatto per noi aziende del farmaco era già una realtà abbastanza importante. L’aumento dei costi dell’energia si è riversato in maniera pesante sulle imprese e soprattutto sulle imprese che producono prodotti a basso costo”.

Tutto questo “sta comportando, come abbiamo appurato già da un’indagine sulle aziende, rischi di carenze importanti, che non sono tanto sui farmaci in sé, ma le vediamo soprattutto sui packaging materials, storage, logistics. E’ questa  la preoccupazione, che potrebbe” comunque “portare a delle carenze di farmaci”. A spiegarlo è Massimo Scaccabarozzi, president of Farmindustria.

“We cannot retaliate against final consumers or even against states because drug prices are administered, controlled and negotiated – precisa – Quindi tutta la parte dell’incremento dei costi deve essere assorbita dalle imprese. Però questo era già un qualcosa di presente indipendentemente dall’attacco” in Ucraina “e dalla guerra”. Però, osserva Scaccabarozzi, “la guerra può peggiorare questa situazione” che si sta registrando a livello globale. “Noi abbiamo avuto aumenti nell’ordine del 150%. L’impatto” del boom dei costi dell’energia “lo stavamo evidenziando anche nel mese scorso. Tutto questo ha avuto ulteriori aumenti” come effetto.

“E cominciamo ad avere delle problematiche di carenze e rallentamenti non tanto sulla disponibilità di principi attivi, ma per esempio di materiali di imballaggio, ghiere, filtri. Il timore, conclude il numero uno dell’associazione nazionale imprese del farmaco, è che questo conflitto accentui ancora di più questa situazione”.