In some cases we are talking the same thing when we refer to manufacturers and suppliers, but not all. Many of the 'suppliers' to the wholesalers are not actually manufacturing all of their ranges themselves. Some of their products are sourced from overseas manufacturers. In some cases, there are other third parties who will deal with the Australian 'suppliers' and represent a collection of manufacturers. Some of the manufacturers will supply more than one generic 'supplier' in some cases.
The larger pharmacy groups are aligned with specific wholesalers and with 'suppliers' forming a kind of vertical. (In the past has been more rigid with exclusivity agreements between them but this has been softening over the last 5 or 6 years and we now see suppliers offering their pharmacy agreed terms through more than one wholesaler and accessing pharmacies they wouldnt have previously been able to reach). The main pharmacy groups are now switched on to the realities of leaner margins driven by PBS reform (Price Disclosure) and have been looking to front of shop to prop up profits.
Im still on the fence about calling it Symbion undercutting Sigma and stealing their contract. CW drive a hard bargain.. It may be they wanted terms that Sigma had to walk away from. I guess we will have to wait and see how profitable the contract ends up being.
CW is Sigma's cornerstone customer, as Priceline is to API. API, Sigma and Symbion cover most of the pharmacy market, but Symbion also dominates the hospital space where the others have no meaningful presence. On the whole, the EBOS group are quite commercial and diversified outside the pharmacy wholesale space, but they have their work cut out for them!
SIG Price at posting:
48.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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