Lilly and Novartis UK are the latest pharmaceutical giants to consider restricting the number of distributors they use to supply their products to chemists and doctors, despite claims this will stifle competition.
The drug companies say the controversial move is necessary to combat counterfeit drugs. But some industry experts claim their true motivation is to tighten control and prevent a wave of cheap imports. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is investigating limiting the number of distributors.
Sanofi-Aventis this week became the latest big pharma to restrict the number of wholesalers that distribute its drugs. From November it will nominate three pharmaceutical wholesalers, Unichem (part of Alliance Boots), AAH Pharmaceuticals and Phoenix, who will be allowed to distribute the company’s drugs to pharmacies.
The Business
1 comment:
In us there has been move to restrict the number of wholesalers to whom the pharmacutical manufacturer can sell at a time. This would give the wholesalers the chance to control the wholesale price.
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uk pharmaceutical wholesalers
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