The European Pharmaceutical Wholesale Industry: - phagro

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The European Pharmaceutical Wholesale Industry
On average, medicines are ordered from manufacturers from 2.5 times a month in
the UK up to 4.5 times in the NL. In case of special need order-frequencies for
certain products are, of course, higher. In some northern European countries, order
frequencies of some companies exceed the average up to 3 times.
The relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and wholesalers is affected
by the provision of services by the latter creating added value for manufacturers.
The most important of these services are related to marketing activities and promotional
support, the provision of sales and inventory statistics but also assistance
at product launches or offering logistics services of clinical trials. As these
services form an integrative part in the relationship with manufacturers, it is
widely expected within the industry that the importance of such services is likely
to rise considerably in the near future as competition between wholesalers, but
also between pharmaceutical companies, is speeding up. In times of increasing
direct distribution and a strained relationship between manufacturers and wholesalers
in the debate on supply quota systems, services more and more become
the crucial competitive factor in pharmaceutical wholesaling.
6.3.2 Warehousing
Items on stock ranged from 6,000 to more than 90,000 depending on the size of
the market and the number of pharmaceuticals 12 authorized to be marketed. On a
European average, wholesaler stock 29,151 different items, of which 49% are
pharmaceuticals. The share of medicines within the product range differs considerably
from country to country, depending on the number of pharmaceuticals allowed
for marketing.
Figure 34: Pharmaceuticals and non-Pharmaceutical Products on Stock
(in thousand), 2004
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
90
54
76
25
50
33
33
GER IT AUT NL FR UK ESP
IPF Institute for Pharmaeconomic Research
21
28
14
Products on stock Pharmaceuticals on stock
Source: IPF research
12
The term pharmaceuticals denotes all Rx and OTC products. Para-pharmaceuticals are
classified as non-pharmaceuticals.
18
12
28
10