Points of inflection

Two important numbers that, to me, guide one's thinking about the pharmaceutical industry's current prospects appear in this issue. One is the total sales volume of pharmaceutical products in the United States during 2004, courtesy of the marketplace data-watchers at IMS Health. The other is the count of new molecular entities (NMEs) approved by the FDA during the past year.

Both numbers are up from the previous year: total sales rose 8.3%, to $235.6 billi ...

Purdue Pharma goes with Symbol Technologies for RFID implementation

Following up on its radio-frequency identification (RFID)-readiness announcement in November, in conjunction with the issuance of FDA guidance on RFID for drug tracking and tracing, Purdue Pharma LP will be using the Symbol AR400 in-line readers, MC9000-G mobile computing readers, and Symbol Class 0 tags for its RFID implementation, according to a Symbol Technologies (Holtsville, NY) news release. Information from packaging lines or warehouses is derived from the tags and fed in ...

Pharmaceutical Business Strategies Launches New Web Site

Pharmaceutical Business Strategies, the new publication from Medical World Communications, Inc. (MWC), has launched its Web site, www.pbsmag.com

Pharmaceutical Business Strategies (PBS) addresses best business practices in the sales, marketing, and distribution of products along the global pharmaceutical supply chain, from manufacturing to market. Industry leaders are turning to it to learn about ...

	Patient compliance via unit-dose packaging
	Manhattan Associates wins software project in China
	Watch for webcast from Accenture/ Pharmaceutical Business Strategies
	New market research capabilities for strategic product planning
	Securing the extended supply chain

Wholesaling reimbursement system is "fundamentally broken," says consultant
New industry study sees a transition to fee-for-service relationships between manufacturers and distributors. All the same, wholesalers are going to have to run faster to stay in place.

Pharmaceutical Business Strategies recently spent time with Dr. Adam Fein, president of Pembroke Consulting, a Philadelphia-based firm that works with wholesalers and manufacturers on business and supply chain strategies. Dr. Fein, a leading expert on the wholesaling and distribution industry, recently updated an ongoing study he performs for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), "Facing the Forces of Change: The Road to Opportunity." (This report is ...