CPHI Milan: USP Benchmarks Reshape Procurement Incentives

In part 1, of a 3-part interview, Ronald T. Piervincenzi, CEO of the US Pharmacopeia (USP), urges pharmaceutical manufacturers to look past the daily stream of policy headlines and act on the broader push toward drug supply chain resilience.

Piervincenzi, who has led USP since 2014, acknowledges that the current policy environment creates uncertainty for industry. "I think that there is so much news coming in about policy changes and shifts that there's a fear that companies have to maybe not overreact, but they of course don't want to ignore these important factors," he says.

He sees a clear trend toward actiong globally, with effects upstream on manufacturers and downstream on medicine purchasers. "So the goal we have is maybe to not pay attention to every single little piece, but rather look at the broader and take seriously the broader goal to improve the resilience, and then look for those solutions and not wait for others to put the demands, on the industry," Piervincenzi explains.

On cost pressures facing generic drug makers, Piervincenzi says USP concentrates on purchasing incentives, making the case that buyers should pay for resilience. He reports broad support for the idea, but purchasers lack the information and systems to act on it. USP's benchmarking initiative aims to close that gap with transparent tools that show health systems and other large procurers which suppliers deliver reliably over time, so they can preference those products in procurement decisions.

One of these tools comes from the USP Resiliency Center and its Medicine Supply Map, which charts the upstream supply chain for approved US medicines. USP data also show drug discontinuations on the rise, with USP officials calling for clear benchmarks for supply reliability and payment mechanisms that value quality and continuity.