"The current trend in pharma logistics is the shift from blockbuster drugs. 6 out of 10 top selling drugs will lose their patents in one year, so there will be increase in the use of generic drugs," Sebastiaan Scholte, Chairman at Cool Chain Association, pointed out when speaking about the latest developments.

These trends influence drug manufacturers and make them rethink their strategies. Already without medications like Lipitor and Plavix bolstering their bottom lines, manufacturers have to cut costs in order to stay competitive. One way to do this is through outsourcing logistics operations.

Can outsourcing really reduce logistics costs? What are the critical obstacles to be aware of?

At the 3^rd Annual Pharmaceutical Logistics & Cold Chain conference, Valgeir Petursson, Director Logistics at Actavis, will examine all options on how to outsource logistics to handle new tasks on smaller budgets.

Taking into consideration that many companies are still reluctant to outsource to third-party logistics service providers and manage some or all of their supply chain internally, conference participants will have the chance to get advice on re-engineering their supply chains with regards to compliance, cost and quality. 

The 2013 event will gather 85+ leading logistics and cold chain experts from big pharma companies, wholesalers, retailers and associations on 9 - 10 April 2013 in Vienna, Austria.  Prominent speakers from Roche, Actavis, J&J, Baxter, Novozymes, EMA, Dutch Health Care Inspectorate, IATA, etc. will carry on with topics covering transportation, distribution, warehousing as well as legislation and strategy. 

For more information please visit the event website http://pharma.flemingeurope.com/pharma-logistics-cool-chain

You are also welcome to join discussions in Pharma Quality, Safety & Supply Chain Forum.

About Fleming Europe

Established in Slovakia, Fleming Europe represents a Pan-European B2B networking channel for specialists to collect & share knowledge. Since 2004, the company has been encouraging decision makers in sharing their experiences through market leading conferences, trainings and webinars. The annual audience of 10,000 Banking, Defense, Energy, Oil & Gas, Pharma, Telco and Transport peers benefit from insights on industry trends when applying them to their own business practices. For more information visit http://flemingeurope.com/