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The Dark Side of Pharma Globalization (2021)
The Dark Side of Pharma Globalization
U.S. Pharmaceutical Dependency on Foreign Sole-Source Production of Essential Materials Imposes Vulnerable Exposure to Interruption by Both Natural and Man-Made Threats
The Dark Side of Pharma Globalization
The Dark Side of Pharma Globalization
U.S. Pharmaceutical Dependency on Foreign Sole-Source Production of Essential Materials Imposes Vulnerable Exposure to Interruption by Both Natural and Man-Made Threats
Authors: Veronika Valdova & Ronald Sheckler
Pharmaceutical supply chains have become increasingly complex due to the shift of manufacturing and critical operations to Asia. U.S. pharmaceutical dependency on foreign sole-source production of essential materials imposes vulnerability affecting the entire industry and national health systems from interruption by exposure to natural events and man-made threats, both accidental and criminal as well as political. Sector vulnerabilities stem from complex regulatory landscape, difficulties for enforcement of quality standards at foreign facilities, single-source supply chain resulting from limited sourcing options, increasing shipping distance exposure to both natural events and complicated by maritime chokepoints. Periodic and chronic shortages of many essential products across therapeutic categories have been significant for more than a decade. The Covid-19 crisis aggravated some of these long-standing issues and made the systemic vulnerabilities publicly evident. The combination of limited capacity to exercise control over essential commodities, the long-term trend of outsourcing, with the politicization of business relationships causes the entire pharmaceutical industrial sector to be internationally dependent, creating numerous potentials for systemic failure.