Drug theft in the supply chain to be studied by HDMA's research center

Booz & Company (New York) is the vendor chosen by HDMA’s Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research to assess the vulnerability of industry distribution and shipping process to theft and IT incursions. The study, sponsored by IT vendor Axway (Scottsdale, AZ) will look at how vulnerable current industry practices are to data loss, or theft and diversion of shipped product. Theft and diversion are close cousins of counterfeiting, which has been a worry of the industry for years. And while counterfeiting was the spur to the development of state-level pedigree rules across the country over the past six or so years, as much revenue or more can be at risk in theft, lost profits or liability from diverted products.

"In recent years, the industry has made progress in instituting physical and IT safeguards to prevent security breaches," says Paul Fowler, Axway’s VP for healthcare innovation. "However, the industry is still working to understand and target strategies used to exploit vulnerabilities. We’ve worked closely with both manufacturers and distributors to develop and implement solutions to secure the pharmaceutical supply chain, and our work with the Center is yet another example of that effort."