The Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research, the research foundation of the Healthcare Distribution Management Association, recently released 2009 Specialty Pharmaceuticals: Facts, Figures and Trends, a new publication providing insight into performance trends in the specialty pharmaceuticals segment of the healthcare industry. The publication presents data on nearly 40 measures of the specialty segment, including market characteristics, finance, operations and handling and information technology. Primary research was based on surveys of manufacturers and distributors. The surveys were developed with the assistance of leading specialty distribution and manufacturing executives.

Specialty pharmaceuticals comprise some of the most costly treatments available in the marketplace. The publication notes that specialty distributors report an average of 400 orders per day containing specialty pharmaceuticals, with the value of these orders exceeding $12,000. Distributors and manufacturers report oncology to be the largest and most costly therapeutic category in the market. Oncology products alone account for more than half of specialty distributors' annual sales volume; manufacturers indicate that these products make up nearly a third of their annual sales volume.

"To date, there has been little data published about distribution in this expanding market segment," said Karen Ribler, executive vice president and COO of the Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research. "This research gives executives and analysts fundamentals on how specialty pharmaceuticals are brought to market. It also provides the reader with useful data and commentary to understand how this unique sector is growing." 

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