July 2020 - Newsletter #7

Consumers Should Be Prepared for Possible Price Increases of Prescription Drugs Worldwide

We've explained previously how the worldwide supply of prescription drugs, including that of the United States, is highly dependent on the integrated pharmaceutical production systems between China and India. In short, raw materials (or active pharmaceutical ingredients) manufactured in China are exported and assembled into finished dosages in India and then packaged to be sold worldwide.

As a result of the Covid-19-related shocks to these integrated pharmaceutical production systems, serious concerns have been 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. In fact, we recently featured a Canadian pharmacist on the television news confirming prescription drug shortages, 'across the board'.

Raw Material Costs are Soaring

But shocks to the supply of a product can also impact the price of the product that is to be supplied. It appears that the costs of the raw materials from China that are needed to make various drug products are skyrocketing and that is having an impact on the Indian portion of the supply chain, and consequently, the cost to produce prescription drugs. With raw material costs soaring by as much as 360% for some ingredients, drug companies in India are lobbying their government to exempt mandated price controls in their country so that they can recoup these increased costs from consumers through price increases.

Operational Costs Have Increased Production Costs

In an article that is aptly headlined, "More drugs may see price revisions as raw material costs, expenses rise", the manufacturing head of one Mumbai-based drug company tells the Business Standard newspaper that, "'[t]he transportation costs of employees to the plants has gone up by three times as we now need three buses instead of one to transport the workers. Inside the plant too the shifts are impacted as one has to take care of social distancing etc. This has increased our operational costs.'"

Transportation Costs Have Surged

Other countries that are reliant on these supply chains have also voiced their concern with the Jakarta Post in Indonesia warning that, "[m]edicine prices could soar 60% on raw material disruption". A pharmaceutical industry representative in that country "explained that the possible price hike was due to the soaring cost of raw materials and distribution that so far had tripled and quintupled from normal levels, respectively."

He also stated that, "[m]any airlines are grounded or are not allowed to fly, hence, [our] members fight over flights or vessels. [This leads to] airlines and shipping companies increasing their prices".

Take Advantage of Our Reduced Shipping Fee

We've experienced soaring shipping rates when shipping your parcels too. 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.

While 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, we do not want our customers to be in a position where the cost of drugs, the procurement of inventory or delivery times could be more negatively impacted than they already are today and we believe it is our duty to diligently inform customers of the risk of this happening.

Please take advantage of the potentially time-limited reduced shipping fee and don't wait for product price increases, more pharmaceutical shortages or delivery systems to experience further delays as the coronavirus is spreading again. We encourage customers who may need medications in the coming months to place their orders now and those whose pending orders await shipping to keep their orders active and in the queue, which ensures they are locked in at the original price quoted at the time of placing the order. That's beneficial to you because we've absorbed much of the coronavirus-related increases in product acquisition and shipping costs that we've faced to date but may be unable to do so for much longer. Also, the limited pharmaceutical supply, available cargo space for transport and customs clearances will all be allocated to customers on a first-come-first-served basis and we anticipate that it may be quite some time before worldwide drug supply and delivery systems return to normal.

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. No competitor offering lower cost 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 to ensure orders reach customers as fast as possible in the circumstances.

More than 2 million prescriptions filled; here's why:

• World's most reviewed & independently five-star rated online pharmacy with a stellar TrustScore
• Compelling true stories: watch our movie & meet our patients
• Certified by CIPA and IPABC
• Independently backed by the Norton Shopping Guarantee and verified by Trust Guard
• Lowest Price and Satisfaction Guarantee