A few people have emailed me over the weekend with questions after last Friday's post about counterfeit Lipitor. (Why is everyone too shy to post a comment?) My analysis was also picked up by at least one other blog. (Thanks, OnThePharm!)
Here are two good resources about the European market:
1) The European Pharmaceutical Wholesale Industry (2005) -- Published last November by the European Association of Pharmaceutical Full-line Wholesalers (GIRP). While unsurprisingly self-serving about the role of wholesalers, this is a mostly accurate factual resource about drug distribution in the EU.
2) Coincidence or Crisis? Prescription Medicine Counterfeiting (2006) -- An edited collection of chapters from the always provocative Stockholm Network. Be sure to read Chapter 5, which was written by Graham Satchwell. He also wrote a book called A Sick Business in 2004 about organized crime's role in pharmaceutical counterfeiting.
BTW, secondary wholesalers have their own trade association -- the European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies (EAEPC) -- dedicated to preserving parallel trade regardless of the consequences.
Please contact me directly if you'd like to talk privately about the US vs. European distribution models, as they are quite different.
It is not quite clear the difference btw US and Europian wholesale from this articles unfortunatelly.
ReplyDeleteDear Flygal (Fly? Ms. Gal?),
ReplyDeleteTrue, these are just pointers to help you quickly gather relevant information. To be honest, there's simply too much to put on blog, especially given the cross-country differences within the EU. Feel free to contact me directly if you have a specific question.
Adam