COVID SUPPLY CHAINS: FACT NOT FICTION—CHAPTER 1 ABOUT THIS BOOK
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth
As promised
Yesterday, I promised to serialize my latest book: THE COVID SUPPLY CHAIN: Fact not Fiction. Below is the first chapter:
CHAPTER 1 ABOUT THIS BOOK
This book is for the enlightenment of anyone wishing to learn more about pharmaceutical supply chains in general, and the COVID-19 supply chains in particular.
Prescription and over-the-counter drugs (drugs from here on) are the single biggest intervention in medical practice. The supply chains that produce them are the vehicle by which drugs get into your body. Once in, you cannot get them out.
The book aims to explain to you all the things you need to know about developing, producing, and distributing drugs in the supply chain—all written in an easy-to-understand fashion.
About you
You will be curious, someone who likes to ask questions and get answers based on facts and evidence.
As well as being curious, you may well find the contents here useful in your chosen line of work or profession. That would include people working inside and outside the industry where a deeper knowledge of pharmaceutical supply chains will help them carry out their work more effectively.
Also, you may have been damaged in some way by pharmaceutical supply chains or wish to avoid being damaged in the future. There was a tragic event in 2007 where patients died and suffered serious adverse reactions, after a toxic material had been substituted for a genuine raw material in the supply chain for the blood thinner heparin. Readers can find this detailed in Chapter 7.
Despite intense activity between Governments, Regulatory Authorities and industry, there is nothing to prevent it happening again. That, and the issues of counterfeiting and diversion of cargo for illicit economic benefit, will be covered later.
Finally, you may want to get your questions on the COVID-19 response answered.
Questions such as: “Why did so many critical items go into short supply?” “Why were over 90% of raw materials sourced from China?” “What risk management plans were in place?” Most tellingly “Who was in charge of it all?!”
What should you take away from this book?
What picture comes to mind when you think of pharmaceutical supply-chains?
Not a single one?
Lorries pulling up at the hospital unloading bay?
Vans/trucks delivering into the pharmacy?
If those are mainly the pictures that come to mind, you should get a lot out of this book. There is much more to it than that. That’s only the tip of the iceberg.
The journey through the various production stages, beginning with raw materials, sees drugs and their components travel tens, if not hundreds of thousands of miles.
They go through multiple airports, seaports, countries, and continents. They are acted upon, handed over, acted upon again, handed over again… …and so it goes.
The typical length, from beginning to receipt of the product in the pharmacy is 2 - 3 years. That is what is known as the cumulative lead-time. It means that the companies at the beginning (raw material producers) are producing materials for drugs that will be needed in 2 or 3 years’ time.
The quantities they produce depend on projections, estimates, and forecasts. These are handed down from the companies along the chain. The company developing or selling the drugs at the top of the chain must start the ball rolling, based on sales expectations in their business plans.
When a seismic change in demand occurs, as with COVID-19, it is going to severely challenge the best of supply chains. When the supply chains have been neglected by their owners for decades, we get what we got; chaos and confusion. This is an extract from a book I authored titled Supply Chain Management in the Drug Industry, published by Wiley in 2011:
Left unattended, supply chains lay around doing the human equivalent of lounging on the sofa, drinking pop (soda), eating sweets (candy), and watching TV. They behave like neglected children. No other sector seems to have neglected its (supply chain) children to the degree that pharmaceuticals have. The parents are now paying the price for all those years of neglect. The big question is: How do they get the children up off the sofa to start to become productive members of society?
In this book you are reading now, you will join me in getting under the skin of what has gone on in pharmaceutical supply chains. That will help you make informed decisions on the drugs you take, from a position of knowledge and understanding.
Why listen to me?
In Chapter 17 of the Wiley book, the final chapter, I made the following comment:
“In earlier chapters we expressed concern about the malaise that currently pervades pharmaceutical supply chains. The author [me] has a name for the condition. I have termed this serendipity induced chronic-disconnectedness, accompanied by change inertia (SICCI = sicky; please excuse the awful pun).
The serious meaning behind this is that the frantic search to discover blockbuster drugs has resulted in a disconnected industry which in turn is disconnected from its supply chains. This, together with the continued belief that serendipity can form the basis of a sustainable business model, kills the will to change.”
Although the book sold in 35+ countries, based on its content on professional management of the supply chain, the messages on the need for massive change for the better did not permeate to the right quarters—CEOs and investors in large pharmaceutical companies (Big Pharma).
Undeterred, I’ve continued to preach the important messages ever since, through publications, speaking at and co-chairing conferences, webinars, podcasts, and on LinkedIn (until I was ejected in August 2021). In doing that, I seem to have acquired a dual identity in the industry. One is Hedley the consultant, working with companies who want the knowledge, understanding and strategy to help build their presence in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
The other Hedley is attempting the impossible of Taming the Big Pharma Monster, by advocating and speaking on radical reform of the industry, for the benefit of all involved.
It is my strong belief that the more you, as a critical thinker, are informed on the workings of the machinery that will insert drugs into your body, the greater the chance of ending this nightmare.
SARS-CoV-2 innoculations have been thrust upon the world with no consideration for the safety of those subjected to the medical procedure—it must be stopped, now.
Let us work on that together!
This Chapter is for all subscribers. Please do sign up for Inside Pharma if you want to continue with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth…
…stay safe,
Hedley