This blog is brought to you courtesy of Jeanette Jones of Cottrill Research.



Pharma resources are plentiful and cover a broad array of topics. The biggest challenge is knowing where to go, given all the excellent open access and subscription-based resource options available. Provided here are selected, key resources for procurement and supply chain professionals to turn to when researching pharmaceutical issues and topics. 

Background Information
Understanding the Pharmaceutical Value Chain, by IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics highlights activities in the pharmaceutical value chain. Country comparisons show the differences between and within markets depending on the type of medicine, channel of distribution, reimbursement regulation, or geographic region.

Supplier Identification
CMOCRO is a free global search tool that helps in finding contract research or manufacturing organizations. Its tag line is "Pharmaceutical Supplier Search Made Easy." You can search by technical capabilities, research service, facility status, location and more. There are 16 supplier categories including API/Biologics/Reagents, Formulation/Manufacturing, Discovery/Preclinical, to name a few. Each category is then broken down into additional detailed subcategories There is keyword search capability and you can compare up to 20 suppliers side by side via an easy to view chart.

Other directories to consider are Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Resource Directory and ThomasNet.com Pharmaceuticals Suppliers.

Market Intelligence
Pharma & Medtech Business Intelligence and Scrip Intelligence are respected fee-based resources for news and market intelligence and analysis. Pharma & MedTech Business Intelligence is owned by Informa. Perhaps the most well known offering is The Pink Sheet, which provides in-depth analysis on regulatory agencies policy developments; reimbursements trends; M&A activities; and provides updates on R&D, drug development and product approvals, and compliance and manufacturing issues. Other key publications include The Gold Sheet (U.S. and international pharmaceutical manufacturing QA/QC requirements), The Tan Sheet (news and analysis of the nonprescription pharmaceutical and dietary supplement industries), and IN VIVO (biopharma, medtech, and diagnostics industries strategic business coverage).

Scrip Intelligence is a subscription-based pharmaceutical news and market analysis resource that covers these topic areas: Therapy Sector, Generics, Business, Policy & Regulation, and Research & Development. Key products and services in the subscription include 24/7 full access to intelligence content; daily email alerts; Ask the Analyst service; weekly key event round-ups; access to over 130 healthcare SCRIP Insights reports; and SCRIP Market Data Pharmaceutical Companies League tables (ranking of the world’s leading pharma companies by sales, R&D, spend, operating profit and more).

Other resources for consideration in the pharma market intelligence space are BioCentury, FirstWord Pharma, and EP Vantage.

Pricing
Red Book, a subscription-based publication by Truven Health Analytics, provides comparisons of drug and non-drug items and lists average wholesale price (awp) for brand name and generic drugs. The International Drug Price Indicator Guide, which is open access, provides prices from pharmaceutical suppliers, international development organizations, and government agencies. The Guide allows you to search for drugs via name, letter, therapeutic class.

Regulatory Resources
Pharmaceutical companies operate in highly regulated environments. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for the supervision and regulation of prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (among other products) in the United States. Resource sections of interest on FDA's website include Search Drugs@FDA, for FDA approved drug products; Orange Book, which updates new generic approvals daily; and National Drug Code Directory, which is "a current list of all drugs manufactured, prepared, propagated, compounded, or processed by it for commercial distribution." For international regulatory bodies, GlobalEdge's Pharmaceuticals: Regulatory Agencies and PharmaWeb's Government and Regulatory Bodies directories are both comprehensive in coverage.

Professional Associations
Professional associations are important providers of market and industry information and are the entities that develop and enforce industry standards. Key pharma associations include European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA), International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA), Distribution Management Association (HDMA),
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), and Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association.

Industry News Publications
Publications, either in print format or available online, are essential sources for staying on top of developments in your area of interest. Most publications have an accompanying website where (open access) daily updates are posted. You can access Pharmaceutical Business Review for the latest news and insight for production and manufacturing, contract research and services, drug research, automation, regulatory affairs, and packaging sectors. Pharmaceutical Executive covers strategy, marketing, sales, R&D, regulations, finance, meetings and IT. Pharmaceutical Manufacturing focuses on drug scale up, manufacturing and packaging. Pharmaceutical Technology provides features on process development and manufacturing, formulation, drug delivery, ingredients, regulation, analytics, packaging, supply-chain, and outsourcing. Drug Discovery & Development covers technologies, tools, and business/regulatory strategies drug research and development productivity. Med Ad News/PharmaLive provides "top lists'" and special features covering the areas of business, marketing, therapeutics, FDA, FTC, and R&D. And last, FiercePharma is a free daily monitor focusing on pharmaceutical company news and the market development of FDA approved products.
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