The market is sensitive to both upstream and downstream pressures that impact drug pricing.
When asked if any recent or anticipated regulatory changes are poised to impact the distribution of specialty medications, Natalie Bedford, Senior Vice President of US Pharmaceutical Distribution Services at McKesson, had a simple response: “Surely.”
“All kidding aside, the distribution channel is extremely sensitive to both upstream and downstream pressures caused by policy pricing changes,” Bedford explained. “We’re always being informed of and paying close attention to whether there are new or potential policy changes that could impact our upstream and downstream customers.”
Within McKesson, a specialized policy team is tasked with paying close attention to these impacts. Before a change policy is implemented, the company works with manufacturing partners to understand what the impacts may be and what concerns they have, “so we can try to work together to have a solution [and] help minimize those impacts.
Bedford sat down with Drug Topics at AXS24, the Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit, held April 28 to May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Click here for more of our coverage from AXS24.
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