An exploratory analysis of the dutch pharmaceutical supply chain

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the Dutch pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC) and required tremendous creativity and effort from PSC partners to guarantee the availability of drugs in the Netherlands and, consequently, Dutch patients’ well-being. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed and compounded existing issues and vulnerabilities in the Dutch PSC. This report presents an exploratory analysis of the structure of the Dutch PSC. Insights were gathered from the literature and a series of interviews were conducted with key PSC actors in the Netherlands. We identify the current challenges and solutions provided by different supply chain actors and extract and analyze dependencies and vulnerabilities that could compromise its efficiency and robustness. The main results indicate that the Dutch PSC is part of various international PSCs. Therefore, it is exposed to several demand and supply characteristics and vulnerabilities that also affect other countries. Simultaneously, the regulation and specific organization of the Dutch pharmaceutical sector has a significant impact on national supply and demand dynamics and how the Dutch PSC can be managed. This report wants to shed light on these issues and provide guidelines to further improve the PSC’s performance. Keywords: Pharmaceutical supply chain, incentives, vulnerability, drug availability and shortages