Taking Pharma's Temperature

Mike Hennessey Jr., President, CEO, MJH Life Sciences

Pharmaceutical Commerce's October issue highlights the publication's second installment this year in its dedicated cold chain coverage, which focuses on emerging temperature-controlled practices and technologies. In his latest feature, Editor Emeritus Nick Basta provides a 2023 state of the cold chain industry-type overview, detailing pharma's move toward new cloud-based visibility systems. Real-time tracking is not a new concept, he notes, but the internet of things (IoT) influence is gaining more and more traction, especially given the growing availability of communications devices that can collect signals automatically. Expounding on these concepts, Richard Ettl, SkyCell’s co-founder and CEO, adds in his guest piece that real-time monitoring is essential in order to preserve temperature integrity. He notes that “automation technologies can help in quickly resolving any issues or disruptions in the cold chain, ensuring that pharmaceuticals reach their destinations in optimal conditions.”

Speaking of supply chain challenges, specifically product security, Alf Goebel of Advanco dives into an issue that continues to plague the life sciences industry: counterfeit medicines. He points to findings from the Pharmaceutical Security Institute that show the incidence of counterfeit drugs is increasing—nearly 6,000 pharmaceutical crime incidents were recorded in 2021, up 38% from the year before, and making it the highest amount since records began 20 years ago.

In his “Value and Access” column, Ed Schoonveld raises the question of how the American government should choose between covering increasing healthcare necessities and the needs in the other two largest US budget items—social security and defense—all while shouldering a large proportion of healthcare costs. As for Bill Roth of IntegriChain, he continues his "Fight for the Dollar" series of articles by exploring how pharmaceutical products—at least in certain segments—are reverting back to a cash pay system. Roth observes that "some retailers are running at the opportunity, and others are trying to slow the trend."

It’s hard to believe that this issue marks the official beginning of Q4; a subtle reminder perhaps of industry's efforts—and ours in covering all the twists and turns—to power through and finish this year strong. Thanks for reading.

— Mike Hennessy Jr., President and CEO, MJH Life Sciences