Impact assessment of logistic fee on medicines

Genesis was appointed to conduct a financial and economic impact assessment of a logistics fee proposed by government, which would be applicable to wholesalers and distributors of medicines and related substances.

Government had published a notice regarding the proposed fee in September 2012, following recommendations from a government pricing committee.

The Genesis report provided a significant contribution to the debate on the issue. Based on the methodologies adopted by competition authorities in the UK, the project team presented an assessment of whether current and historical prices and levels of profit could be deemed excessive.

We also presented an assessment of how the proposed logistics fee would impact on the future viability of the pharmaceutical wholesale industry, as well as an assessment of whether direct agency distributors or pre-wholesalers would have the ability to replace the function of pharmaceutical wholesalers if the latter where to cease to be viable.