Approx 13 weeks worth medicines stock in supply chain: PharmaTrac TruStock

With the national lockdown having been extended for a further fortnight, AIOCD AWACS’ PharmaTrac TruStock has estimated that as of April 7, there is a cumulative stock of medicines of 13 weeks or almost three months at various levels in the Indian pharma sector’s supply chain.

This includes a seven weeks inventory at the distributor level, plus four to six weeks inventory at the depots of pharma companies and an average 7-10 days inventory at the retail level.

PharmaTrac TruStock is a tracking solution offered by AIOCD AWACS to track the in-transit stocks of medicines, as these stocks could have a significant impact on inventory analysis, understanding stocking pattern, primary sales trends and growth perceptions.

One of the biggest concerns during the ongoing national lockdown due to COVID-19 is the availability of medicines. According to report released by AIOCD AWACS, the research firm re-measured stock levels on April 7 across thousands of stockists, captured the in-transit inventory and reassessed the closing stock of March 20 including in transit stock billed in last week and received at stockist level up to April 7.

As per this data, there is adequate stock at the distributor level across therapy areas, with the least being anti-diabetic medicine (four weeks) and highest being the derma category (eight weeks).

Anti-malarials overall, despite reduction compared to previous months, still have 52 days inventory, despite the spurt in sales. This means that pharmaceutical companies have done a satisfactory job in manufacturing and transportation, to reach goods to CFAs under very challenging circumstances of low workforce, in both production and transport areas.

The AIOCD AWACS/PharmaTrac TruStock estimates that as production/transport ramps up, the stock level can only go up and continue to stabilise, assuring the nation of no shortage of essential medicines.