AmerisourceBergen adds to its Canadian specialty distribution business

Through the business units of its Specialty Group, AmerisourceBergen is a major player in specialty wholesaling and distribution; and through its Consulting and Patient Services group, it provides many of the follow-on services for specialty pharmaceuticals that are coming to be known as hub services. Now, it is expanding those services to Canada, through its Innomar Strategies unit, based in Toronto. A new warehouse and distribution center, with 160,000-sq. ft. capacity has been opened. ABC had sold most of its pharmaceutical wholesaling business in Canada last year, but hung onto its specialty franchise.

The GMP-compliant facility is built out with extensive cold-chain capabilities, including temperature mapping and monitoring, and controlled-substance storage. Innomar (which both a unit of ABC Consulting and Patient Services, and of AmerisourceBergen Specialty Canada), provides both wholesaling and third-party logistics services, as well as patient care, specialty pharmacy and market access services. AmerisourceBergen Specialty, in turn, has a national network of infusion centers, home healthcare and related services.

According to the company, the new investment should be tailormade for small and mid-tier healthcare manufacturers to supply products to the Canadian market; Innomar is registered as both a wholesaler and distributor in Canada, and acts as an importer for companies that do not have a presence in the Canadian market.

“By making the intricacies of logistics easier for manufacturers, Innomar Strategies serves as a seamless extension of the customer’s business to provide worry-free, turnkey distribution services,” said Todd Soltysiak, senior director of 3PL services for Innomar Strategies, in a statement. “Instead of foreign manufacturers investing in real estate, hiring staff and purchasing infrastructure resources, Innomar Strategies can support entrance into Canada by turning fixed costs into variables that will ebb and flow with business needs.”