Life Sciences Report May 2020 – Procurement

For the pharmaceuticals industry, whilst the impact of the Covid19 crisis has yet to be seen, already questions are being asked about whether it makes sense to have outsourced manufacturing of medicines, as supply chains come under threat through export bans. As an example of this, the decision by the Government of India to ban the export of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), showed how fragile supply chains are. As another example, The MHRA now has
196 medicines which cannot be hoarded or exported from the UK – There were only 29 products on the list
at the beginning of 2020. The need to both secure both ingredients for manufacturing and with exports subject
to cross border restrictions has meant that this crisis has put pressure on procurement teams in a way not
seen before.