Pfizer purchasing quotas criticised by CPS
Some community pharmacy contractors have had limits set by Pfizer on the amount they can order of certain products, according to Community Pharmacy Scotland in its submission to the Office of Fair Trading's market study into UK medicines distribution. This issue has also been highlighed
by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PJ,
2 June, p637).
Pfizer confirmed the practice and defended its system, which, it says,
prevents contractors ordering “excessive amounts”.
According to CPS, some contractors have received letters from Pfizer
saying that they had ordered too many packs of a particular medicine,
over a limit that Pfizer had now set, and were unable to order any more
until a later date. Pharmacists who tried to order more product received
no stock and the invoice from UniChem stated “Pfizer no right to
buy” or “restricted supply”, CPS writes.
David Watson, head of trade, Pfizer, told The Journal: “It is essential
for us to manage the supply of our products, basically so that we can
always make sure we have got enough products to sell. … If we see
very unusual ordering patterns on certain products, then from time to
time we have written to pharmacists.”
He said that Pfizer had set order limits in around 39 cases across the
UK during the first three months of its new supply arrangements. “Where
we have done that is where we think we would have supply issues locally
unless we took some action,” Mr Watson claimed. He added that most
UK wholesalers operate a similar monitoring process.
In its submission to the OFT, CPS also voices its disappointment that
Pfizer “set national rates of discount for its distribution scheme
without reference to or discussion with [CPS]”, which the group
says indicated the company’s “lack of knowledge of the different
discount recovery rates and mechanisms that exist in Scotland compared
to those in place in England”.
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