It has been announced that from February 2020, Upjohn Australia Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc.) will distribute medicines through Community Service Obligation (CSO) pharmaceutical distributors.
Upjohn announced the decision by signing a contract with Symbion, with negotiations expected to be finalised with other wholesalers shortly.
According to Upjohn General Manager Australia and New Zealand, Gareth Richmond, the repositioning of the distribution of Upjohn medicines with wholesalers is a commercial decision.
This is to ensure the business is in the best position for future growth, and to ensure patients continue to have access to its medicines.
“This is an important step for Upjohn in Australia that will enable us to establish a distribution model independent of Pfizer Australia,” said Mr Richmond.
“Upjohn has been tasked with embracing an innovative mindset, being agile and essentially thinking like a start-up, working towards a common goal of positioning for future growth.”
Mr Richmond adds that given Upjohn’s “diverse product portfolio” and “breadth of sales… working with wholesalers was the best option for our business to evolve”.
Pfizer Australia Finance Director, Bradley Apps assures that this decision will not impact the remaining BioPharma business of Pfizer in Australia – it will be “business as usual”.
“Australians will have continued access to our innovative, generic and biosimilar medicines. We will continue to offer next business day delivery, through Pfizer Direct, to more than 5,600 pharmacies in Australia.
“Pfizer remains committed to partnering with our existing logistics supplier to ensure all customers and patients have access to our medicines in every location in Australia as part of our direct distribution agreement.
“We have a valued and lasting relationship with our logistics supplier and remain committed to working with the, to achieve this goal,” Mr Apps said.
