Dose #4 How Pharma Supply Chains Should Adopt to Support Low-Volume, High-Price Drugs with Tassilo Krug (Ex-Sandoz)

Join our host, Evren Ozkaya, as he engages in an insightful conversation with Tassilo Krug, who most recently was the Global Head of Portfolio at Sandoz, about effective portfolio management strategies in the generic drug industry. In this episode, they explore the evolving trend pharmaceutical companies are facing: A shift from high-volume, low-price drugs to low-volume, high-price (orphan) drugs. Referencing FDA data, they highlight that in the 2010s, orphan drugs constituted roughly 30% of drug approvals. However, since 2020, the proportion has consistently surpassed 50%. This shift has significantly affected the supply chain and manufacturing strategies of pharmaceutical companies. Tassilo and Evren discuss the anticipated consequences of the surge in low-volume drug production for the generic drug industry, though they expect these impacts to manifest with some latency. Then, Tassilo shares insights on the importance of achieving end-to-end digitalization to enhance visibility and automate processes for pharma companies. They also talk about the role of automation in empowering workers to focus on value-adding tasks rather than tedious, non-value-added activities.