Alliance Boots takes action against GIRP
The wholesale and commercial affairs division of Alliance Boots plc has begun legal proceedings in Belgium to review the actions of the European Association of Pharmaceutical Full-line Wholesalers (GIRP) in relation to Pfizer and UniChem’s “Direct to pharmacy” (DTP) distribution agreement in the UK.
The move coincides with Alliance Boots executive deputy chairman Stefano
Pessina’s resignation from the GIRP steering committee over GIRP’s
response to the distribution model.
The Times reported last week that “the action is designed to overturn
efforts by the wholesalers group to block [the Pfizer/UniChem] deal”.
However, a spokeswoman for Alliance Boots wholesale and commercial affairs
told The Journal that the legal action is designed to prevent the company’s
competitors from influencing GIRP to try to block the deal, and not as
reported in The Times.
“Alliance Boots WSCA believes that GIRP is not acting in the interest
of all its members and is being used to voice criticism of the DTP model
by full-line wholesalers who were not appointed by Pfizer in its recent
tender process in the UK,” the company said in a statement.
Welsh
view Community Pharmacy Wales discussed Pfizer’s distribution
plan at a meeting held in Cardiff last week. The CPW committee released
the following
statement: “CPW is gravely concerned about the Pfizer proposals and the
resultant reliability of the supply chain to contractors and the impact on both
the community pharmacy business model, pharmacy workload and provision of dispensed
medication to patients.” |
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