Setting the Right Tone

Saying that there’s value in starting off strong might be cliché, but it couldn’t be any truer in my opinion.

The February issue of Pharmaceutical Commerce marks this start of a new year ripe with new opportunities. From a deep dive into pharma third-party logistics (3PL) providers to fresh perspectives on pharmacy benefit manager economics, patient hubs, and quality and compliance pressures, the February issue sets the tone for a year of industry insight.

Our cover feature presents a 3PL executive leader roundtable capturing the latest trends, strategies, and key discussion points in the space,a tradition of the brand over the past few years.

Senior Editor Nicholas Saraceno again was able to speak with some of the major 3PL powerhouses, including Cardinal Health, McKesson, Cencora, EVERSANA, Frontier Scientific Solutions, and CareTria (formerly Knipper Health). These companies—responsible for the management of specialized logistics functions that manufacturers, distributors, or dispensers may be unable to support due to resource constraints, cost considerations, or other operational limitations—represent a key cog in the supply chain that keep operations moving.

“In today’s regulatory environment, selecting a 3PL is no longer primarily about footprint or throughput. Manufacturers are increasingly evaluating partners based on compliance maturity, governance discipline, and their ability to operate consistently within validated systems,” Robert Saunders of Frontier noted.

Shifting to economics, in his latest “Commercialization Corner” column, Bill Roth of IntegriChain explores further into his series centered around “The Great Repricing,” this time focusing on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). He notes that while PBMs position their services around helping employers provide prescription benefits, the underlying model frequently prioritizes economic returns over clinical optimization. In competitive therapeutic classes, for instance, formulary decisions are often driven by rebate volume instead of true net cost efficiency, Roth contends.

Another valuable sector within the pharma industry is quality and compliance. According to a team of authors at Coforge Limited, a digital solutions and technology consulting services company, issues in this space are a cause for concern, supported by the failure incidents that have steadily increased.

For a lot more, I encourage you to give these articles, and the rest of our content slate, a look if the topics pique your interest. We appreciate your support, and as always, thank you for reading.