The global pharmaceutical company Teva announced a strategic partnership with Kerry Pharma, a subsidiary of the Kerry Logistics Network Ltd on March 11, further bolstering the pharmaceutical supply chain in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The partnership will leverage a digital system to integrate and streamline operations and the efficient circulation of nearly 200 pharmaceutical products, benefiting millions of patients. The complementary strengths of the two companies further facilitate the smooth flow of these goods in the Greater Bay Area.
Bilateral commitment
Theodor Wee, the general manager of Teva Greater China, emphasized the importance the company has placed on ensuring quality products meet the needs of the China market.
"As a global leader in pharmaceuticals, Teva works very closely with local partners to ensure patients have access to their treatments. Kerry Logistics Network, as a leading logistics company in Hong Kong, has well-established supply chain capabilities and reputation with an extensive distribution network in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," he said, "We believe our strategic collaboration with Kerry Pharma will be the benefit of our patients as well as both companies".
Theodor Wee, general manager of Teva Greater China, and Samuel Lau, managing director at Integrated Logistics Asia of Kerry Logistics Network. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The executive stressed the partnership will enhance medicine distribution, continuously improving the safety, efficiency and accessibility of medicines supply.
"Teva has one of the most complex and sophisticated supply chains in the industry. We have at least 20 manufacturing sites all over the world to distribute more than 200 affordable, high-quality medicines to patients in Hong Kong. As part of our global 'Pivot to Growth' strategy, we will bring more innovative treatments to meet the evolving needs of our patients. Hence, a stable supply of medicines is crucial to us." Wee said.
For Kerry Pharma, its position as a global provider of high-quality specialty solutions for the healthcare sector has been further bolstered.
Samuel Lau, managing director at Integrated Logistics Asia of Kerry Logistics Network, expressed that the strategic partnership is a win-win.
"The pharmaceutical industry plays a vital role in society; however, it has stringent requirements regarding serving pharmaceutical customers. We are willing to manage every part of the supply chain, no matter how difficult that is. Ensuring seamless and safe distribution is an opportunity for us to contribute meaningfully to public health," said Lau.
"This is the reason that we choose to partner with Kerry Pharma. They have more than three thousand delivery points in clinics, drug stores and retail chains and more importantly, in all of these delivery points, they provide end-to-end solutions. We want to leverage their ecosystem and expertise to help us build up our retail capabilities so that we can improve patient convenience and patient accessibility," said Wee.
"We are actually very proud to share that, today, Kerry Pharma has imported, and subsequently, distributed more than 1 million units of our medicines to hospitals and clinics, as well as retail pharmacies," said Lau.
"As a responsible and active participant in the delivery of healthcare to people in Hong Kong, our most important concern and priority was to ensure patients continue to have seamless access to their treatments during the transition," said Wee.
4PL partnership upgrades
Representatives of executives from Teva and Kerry Pharma: Hanson Xu, Bright Wu, Theodor Wee, Samuel Lau, Jorhway Chong, Linda Pang (from left to right). [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
This partnership was made through a Teva globally standardized and rigorous process for sourcing and with contributions from both parties.
Bright Wu, APAC Sourcing Head of Teva Global Procurement, mentioned that the initial integration is challenging, both executive leaders and dedicated project team delivered the commitments. For instance, they spent weeks to analyze over 200 cost-related items one by one from past three years of data to predict future scenarios. Both sides have contributed a lot to ensure a timely and smooth transition.
"This collaboration capitalizes on complementary strengths and synergy. For example, we can have Kerry Pharma's advanced warehousing, transportation methods, and distribution networks to boost the timeliness of getting our products to market and to patients," she said.
The lead time is also another challenge from Kerry Pharma side, confirmed by Jorhway Chong, Director - Integrated Logistics, Thailand & Regional Logistics Operations.
After connecting with Teva, the Kerry Pharma team responded promptly, with full team cooperation, achieving smooth platform transition within a short period of time, according to Chong.
"Digital solutions will be explored to provide Hong Kong patients with high-priority response services, further improving the efficiency and safety of drug logistics and protecting the health of the public," he said, emphasizing the key role that technology will play in providing streamlined solutions.
The strategic partnership between Teva and Kerry Pharma has the goal of empowering the health ecosystem through more innovative means and complementary advantages, according to Linda Pang, head of commercials at Teva Greater China.
"To deliver swift and reliable services to patients, we would harness more digital solutions in the future, optimizing the safety and efficiency of pharmaceutical logistics," Pang said. "Teva, together with Kerry Pharma, will actively respond to the two major themes and nine major areas of healthcare policy of the Hong Kong government, accelerating the introduction of new products into the Hong Kong market, including high-quality generic and innovative medicines, to meet the unmet needs of patients and benefit more people. In addition, our objective is to provide patients with enhanced logistics management services characterized by warmth and high quality."
Wee added that Teva will leverage more favorable policies to bring more of its innovative medicines to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with the expectation of better collaboration in the future to support and empower both sides, promoting commercial and industry development.
