Full-line wholesalers in the EU perform an unrecognized role, United Drug chief says

Full-line prescription drug wholesaling has an intrinsic value, based on carrying and supplying a full range of medicines that benefits governments, manufacturers and patients alike, according to Liam Fitzgerald, chief executive of United Drug, a provider of services to pharmaceutical retailers and manufacturers and Ireland's largest pharmaceutical wholesaler. He was speaking at the 49th Annual General Meeting of the European Association of Pharmaceutical Full-line Wholesalers (GIRP) in Prague, the Czech Republic.

Mr Fitzgerald warned: "attempts by any stakeholder to cherry pick product ranges or price services without due recognition of the cross-subsidization nature of our service, or to delimit wholesaling to a pure logistics operation, will ultimately do patients a dis-service and will compromise the de facto public service aspect of full-line wholesaling." He added that the crucial challenge for the wholesalers at this time "is to make our message heard."

Wholesalers should, he argued, seek out other services to capitalize on the outsourcing trends of European governments and drugmakers. However, in doing so, the temptation is to deny the sector's full-line wholesaling heritage and fail to communicate that service's value to all elements of the health care value chain.