A new report calls for government action against Pfizer Australia's direct-to-pharmacy (DTP) distribution model, claiming that it poses a threat to Australians’ "timely and reliable access" to prescription medicines.
The main threat presented by company's exclusive distribution model - Pfizer Direct, which the company launched in February - is the fact that it is not covered by the Community Service Obligation (CSO), says the report, from Deloitte Access Economics. The CSO requires distributors to provide all medicines supplied under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) at a specified service standard within 24 hours of request or below the approved price to pharmacy, to wherever the pharmacy might be located. But Pfizer's DTP model means that the firm - the largest manufacturer of medicines on the PBS - is now operating outside the CSO, and this has serious implications for the entire medicines supply chain, says the report's author, Professor Ian Harper.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Pfizer's DTP system "threatens Australia's drugs supply"
via pharmatimes.com
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