ABSTRACT
The biopharmaceutical supply chain or logistics network is any sequence of processes that is involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. A supply chain is thus composed of organizations, individuals, technology, activities, resources, and information involved in the supply chain processes. Full-line wholesalers provide a plethora of front-office and back-office services, several of which are adding value to the supply chain, for example, product recalls, patient claims processing, and educational material distribution. In a traditional pharmaceutical supply chain setting, a physician writes a prescription, which the patient then takes to a retail pharmacy location, has it filled, and then takes the prescribed medicine home for oral administration in order to treat a common ailment, for example, back pain. Supply chain management is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers.
