August 2020 - Newsletter #9
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Why Drug Prices are Likely to Increase Worldwide
Our last few newsletters have discussed two important factors of the pandemic's triple whammy affecting pharmaceuticals globally - drug shortages and slowdowns in delivery logistics. The third factor is more prescription drug price increases.
What Happens in China and India Impacts Your Prescription Drug Prices
To produce the finished dosages of medicines that are ultimately purchased by consumers, drug supply chains rely on active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) that are manufactured in China. The US is heavily reliant on Indian made finished dosages and India is in turn heavily reliant on the Chinese active pharmaceutical ingredients required to produce those finished dosages. This is also true of other drug supply chains all over the world - a fact that we have previously explained in our newsletters.
… "in the last three-six months, prices of APIs from China have gone up 20-35 per cent [generally], according to pharma industry associations."
Covid-19-related shocks to integrated pharmaceutical production systems have led to serious concerns being expressed by drug manufacturers, the American Medical Association, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and pharmacists in the United Kingdom and Canada about the disruption in the supply of pharmaceuticals since the coronavirus crisis began. Leading doctors and pharmacists have said these drug shortages could "imperil … lives". In this regard, we recently featured a Canadian pharmacist on the television news confirming prescription drug shortages, 'across the board'. The Wall Street Journal is one of several media outlets reporting this issue and a member of Congress from Pennsylvania just penned an Op-Ed piece on drug shortages too.
Drug Production Costs are Skyrocketing in India and These are Likely to Affect Prescription Drug Prices Internationally
In an article about the raw material costs skyrocketing 211% in India for just one critical drug, a major Indian news outlet, Indian Express reports that "in the last three-six months, prices of APIs from China have gone up 20-35 per cent [generally], according to pharma industry associations."
"… It could also hit the availability of medicines in other countries that import from India as well."
In noting that 68% of essential medicines from India rely on Chinese APIs, Indian Express warns "[t]his means that a snag in the supply chain from China could disrupt the availability of medicines made in India. It could also hit the availability of medicines in other countries that import from India as well." This corroborates precisely what our suppliers are telling us and what we saw happen when the pandemic first took hold.
This is compounded by the fact that India's Covid outbreak is now the world's fastest-growing which could again diminish the production of finished dosages for export. Add to all this the increased operating and transportation costs for pharmaceutical companies and it could very well be a prescription for another round of price increases.
Take Advantage of Our Potentially Time-Limited Reduced Shipping Fee
It may seem counterintuitive with the slower delivery service from postal agencies during the pandemic, but we are incurring significantly higher shipping rates when shipping customer parcels. Yet we've reduced our shipping fee to help minimize the impact on our customers and make it easier to order their medications now. But we do not know what further Covid-19 surcharges or other rate increases we will face in the coming weeks so we may only be able to maintain the lower shipping fee of today for a limited time.
The good news is that NorthWestPharmacy.com has been successfully taking, processing and delivering affordable prescription drugs throughout the entire coronavirus crisis and continues to do so.
So please take advantage of the potentially time-limited reduced shipping fee and don't wait for more product price increases, pharmaceutical shortages or delivery systems to experience further delays as the coronavirus continues to spread. We encourage customers who may need medications in the coming months to place their orders now.
With more than 375,000 customer reviews, NorthWestPharmacy.com is the most reviewed and independently five-star rated online pharmacy in the world providing lower cost medications from abroad to customers worldwide. Nobody offering safe and affordable pharmaceuticals from abroad can match our supply and delivery capacity during this difficult time so please be assured we are successfully leveraging all our capacity and ensuring orders reach customers as fast as possible in the circumstances.
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