Pharmaceutical Industry (Chloe Tiffin)
Fact Checked Source:
Richard L. Oehler, Sandra G. Gompf, "Shortcomings in the US Pharmaceutical Supply Chain"
On March 16, 2020, Sandra G. Gompf and Richard L. Oehler, both infectious disease specialists, shared their views about COVID-19 and how it may affect the pharmaceutical industry.
Looking Deeper: Five Facts Checked
In order to obtain a better understanding of the claims made in this article, I did some research to verify five facts about both the pharmaceutical industry and COVID-19 that were presented.In 2016, an explosion at a factory of the Chinese industrial giant Qilu Pharmaceutical resulted in suspension of operations
I was interested in this claim right here, so I decided to look more into what happened during this explosion at a factory in China in 2016. FiercePharma verified this tragedy and covered the story line.
The explosion exacerbated an existing shortage of this vital antibiotic agent that is widely used in hospitals around the world. (piperacillin-tazobactam)
I wanted to see how much this antibiotic was used globally. According to WebMD, piperacillin-taxobactam is used very frequently because it helps treat a wide variety of bacterial infections.
I wanted to look for myself how other hospitals and pharmaceutical companies were affected by this explosion at China's pharmaceutical plant. NCBI verifies that patients were stripped of the medications they needed, leading them into sepsis and letting their bacterial infections grow since the antibiotic was so scarce.Some hospitals dealt with the shortage by limiting use of piperacillin-tazobactam to patients with severe sepsis and ventilator-associated pneumonia at the expense of the greater use of other normally restricted and rationed antibacterial drugs.
This quote interested me, and I wanted to see if any other experts thought the same thing as the authors of this article. Madhav Durbha, author of an article published in thepharmaletter, agreed with this statement and verified that the pharmaceutical industry needs to take precautionary steps to ensure healthy populations.Ultimately, the combined efforts of the pharmaceutical industry, government regulators, public health officials, clinicians, and health care organizations will be needed to ensure that the US pharmaceutical supply chain remains healthy and secure well into the 21st century.
To ensure they don't experience a major downfall, they need to take steps including tracking shipments, considering medicines and their components, improving testing of medication, and more.I was wondering if there was anything else the pharmaceutical companies could do to prepare for possible disasters. NBC shared their thoughts on the matter, and agreed with the points made in the article published in JAMA.
Analytic Essay
The Pharmaceutical Industry versus COVID-19
COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus, has affected almost two million people as well as killing 125 thousand around the world. However, no one has touched base and over-viewed the perspective of the pharmaceutical industry and how they may be negatively, or positively, affected. China’s drug manufacturers have weighed in their perspective on the virus and what may happen to their facilities as the virus progresses, and other professionals have shared their points of view on what may happen to the industry as a whole. If China’s pharmaceutical industry takes a fall, then so does the rest of the world, taking a great toll on not only the whole industry itself, but especially the United States, since Americans are so reliant on drugs to keep people healthy and fight illnesses. According to experts on the matter, if the pharmaceutical industry doesn’t take precautionary measures, the entire world will be in a state of disaster. The pharmaceutical industry is walking on a thin line of possibly dealing with a major disaster.
A medical journal, also known as JAMA, argued their take on how the virus may impact the industry. They use evidence from other pharmaceutical downfalls in the past few years, such as the scarcity of penicillin, explosion of a factory in China, and other instances to give some examples of how it affected the pharmaceutical industries around the world;
“The worldwide situation led many domestic and overseas hospitals to ration piperacillin-tazobactam and to substitute cephalosporin and carbapenem agents.Some hospitals dealt with the shortage by limiting use of piperacillin-tazobactam to patients with severe sepsis and ventilator-associated pneumonia at the expense of the greater use of other normally restricted and rationed antibacterial drugs.”
The author, Richard L. Oehler and Sandra G. Gompf, address the previous mishap and explain that since the explosion that happened in one of China’s factories lead to the entire world rationing on certain drugs and antibiotics, and withholding medication from those who are in serious medical danger. The journal goes on to talk about COVID-19 and how it could be a potential downfall to the pharmaceutical industry, and affect the trades between the US and China negatively. “Ultimately, the combined efforts of the pharmaceutical industry, government regulators, public health officials, clinicians, and health care organizations will be needed to ensure that the US pharmaceutical supply chain remains healthy and secure well into the 21st century.” they are referring to pharmaceutical companies around the world, and in order to make sure it doesn't take a huge fall, then they need to take proper precautions and all of these healthcare facilities are going to be needed in order to keep the world healthy.
COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China, affecting the pharmaceutical companies in China first. NPR, a national radio station, had contacted drug manufacturers in China to get their take on the virus and how it may be impacting their ability to work and function. On March 3, NPR emailed facilities registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ask what products they manufacture, how the outbreak was affecting their work and how they were coping. China’s drug manufacturers produce most of the world's drugs, supplying pharmaceutical companies all around the world. The workers mention that, at the time, they were set with supplies because they usually order supplies a month in advance so they don't run out of product. So, they were set for a while, but they were nervous about the second wave of product they would need. They were afraid that there wouldn't be enough product, or that it would be dangerous to order supplies and risk contracting the virus.
According to an article published in City Letter and written by Joel Zinberg, China is the main supply of drugs for pharmaceutical companies around the world. They provide 95% of the supplies to the rest of the industry globally. Since America is so reliant on the pharmaceutical industry for cures, this might affect the United State’s pharmaceutical industry very negatively if China’s industry loses all their supplies. If China loses all of their supplies, the global pharmaceutical industry won't be able to keep up with the growing pandemic, they’ll lose their money and profits, and the population will struggle to flatten the curve of the virus. Since China produces most of the world's drugs, if they run out of supplies, then so does the entire pharmaceutical industry altogether.
The pharmaceutical industry is struggling and nervous about how they are going to have to deal with all of the new cases and if they are going to be capable of keeping people healthy. China usually orders their supplies in bulk so they don't run out, but they are skeptical on their next shipment for multiple reasons, being if their shipments will track in the virus or if they will run out of supplies. If China runs out of supplies, then so will the rest of the world, since China accounts for most of the drug supply and shipments in the world. If the United States cannot obtain the drugs from China, then their pharmaceutical companies will not be able to keep up with the continuously growing curve of cases, and not be able to keep people healthy. As of right now, according to thepharmaletter, the pharmaceutical industry has not taken any major steps into ensuring the stability of their companies, but they need to take some precautionary actions to be sure that a global downfall doesn’t ensue.
References
Lupkin, S. (2020, March 12). How Coronavirus Is Affecting The U.S. Pharmaceutical Supply. In NPR. Retrieved April 11, 2020, from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/12/814623335/how-coronavirus-is-affecting-the-u-s-pharmaceutical-supply
This is a news article from Michigan's radio NPR news written by Sydney Lupkin. This is the perspective from China’s drug manufacturers. You can tell that they're talking from this perspective because they mention questions they had asked some of China’s drug manufacturers. The purpose of this article was To show how COVID-19 is affecting drug manufacturers in China and how they’re dealing with the virus. The workers mention that, at the time, they were set with supplies because they usually order supplies a month in advance so they don't run out of product. So, they were set for a while, but they were nervous about the second wave of product they would need.
Durbha, M. (2020, March 17). Coronavirus exposes the weak links in the pharma supply chain. In thepharmaletter. Retrieved April 11, 2020, from https://www.thepharmaletter.com/article/coronavirus-exposes-the-weak-links-in-the-pharma-supply-chain
This source is from a journal called “thepharmaletter” written by Madhav Durbha. The perspective of this source is all of the pharmaceutical industry. You can tell because the title is calling out the weakest industry in the supply chain, and they reference the industry as “companies,” referring to multiple industries around the world and not just China. The main argument of this source is to show the possible challenges and struggles the pharmaceutical industry might soon face. They mention a shortage of essential supplies, needing a plan for an effective launch of a vaccine when the time comes, and mention what they should be doing short and long-term. The journal talks about how China is dominating the pharmaceutical industry since they are a main source of supply for companies around the world. It goes on to talk about how this will affect companies in the future, and what these companies should be doing to prepare for the virus, such as planning short and long-term and making sure they stay stocked on essential supplies as much as possible.
Zinberg, J. (2020, February 29). The Virus and the Supply Chain. In City Journal. Retrieved April 11, 2020, from https://www.city-journal.org/coronavirus-pharmaceuticals-production
This is a journal from City Journal and written by Joel Zinberg. This article is showing the perspective of Americans being affected by a possible drug shortage in the United States due to COVID-19. You can tell this is their perspective because they address the United States pharmaceutical industries and their likelihood of running out of supplies, and since America is so reliant on the pharmaceutical industry for cures, this might affect the industry very negatively if they lose all their supplies. If they lose all of their supplies, then they won't be able to keep up with the growing pandemic and they will lose their money and profits and the population will struggle to flatten the curve of the virus. The main argument of this source is how the shortage of drugs in China will affect all pharmaceutical companies around the world. Since China produces most of the world's drugs, if they run out of supplies, then so does everyone around the globe.
Oehler, R. L., & Gompf, S. G. (2020, March 16). Shortcomings in the US Pharmaceutical Supply Chain. JAMA. doi:https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763318?resultClick=1
This is coming from JAMA, a medical peer-reviewed journal, written by Richard L. Oehler and Sandra G. Gompf, who both have an MD. They use evidence from other pharmaceutical downfalls in the past few years, such as the scarcity of penicillin, explosion of a factory in China, and other instances to give some examples of how it affected the pharmaceutical industries around the world. The journal goes on to talk about COVID-19 and how it could be a potential downfall to the pharmaceutical industry, and affect the trades between the US and China negatively. They are referring to pharmaceutical companies around the world, and in order to make sure it doesn't take a huge fall, then they need to take proper precautions and all of these healthcare facilities are going to be needed in order to keep the world healthy. The journal addresses all of the possible downfalls that the industries could experience throughout this pandemic, and how even the slightest thing like withholding the supply of some drug components could have a major effect on companies all over the world. The authors give their advice and a list of approaches on what the industry should do to ensure they don't experience a major downfall.