Teva API

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Product List 2022

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APIs // Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

500 APIs, 392 USDMF, 118 CEP/COS, 35 JDMF, 44 EU WC, 26 KDMF, 29 NDC API, 279 Listed APIs

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“We were able to secure our crucial supplies throughout the pandemic”

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has been challenging for supply chain management professionals at pharmaceutical companies across the world, especially during the lockdowns where they were under tremendous pressure to produce critical drugs and often even step up production. With borders closed and restrictions on movement, active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers such as Teva api had to work with governments and freight operators, and work with new guidelines and strategies, to overcome the supply chain challenges. This week, we interview Bertil Wagensveld, Head of Logistics & Commercial Supply Chain at Teva api, to understand how he managed to ensure a crucial supply of APIs to Europe from his base in Amsterdam. — How has the pandemic impacted pharmaceutical and API manufacturers? Can you talk about some of the supply chain challenges you faced during the lockdowns? The pandemic has been extremely challenging for all businesses and professionals. It has been particularly challenging in a critical industry like pharmaceuticals and API, where we have to move essential medicines and ingredients around the world. For instance, when we had to shut down our site in China temporarily at the start of the outbreak in 2020, we realized what a problem it was for our global supply. In Europe, specifically in Italy where most of our products are produced, it became an emergency. Our customers began contacting us almost immediately to understand the potential impact on their supply, specifically asking us whether we had sufficient raw material, about the origin of the raw material, and if we had sufficient inventory. In parallel, we also contacted our raw material suppliers and our service providers to understand the potential impact of this emergency. It was a challenge; it still is a challenge — one where we are learning each day. It makes me incredibly proud that we were able to secure our crucial supplies and reduce the impact of this unexpected situation. — Since medicines are essential commodities, how did governments work with companies like yours to ensure supplies? We have a few medicines which were, and still are, in high demand in hospitals. Right from the start, we were approached by governments to understand the potential availability and delivery dates for these products. With border congestions all over Europe at the start of the pandemic, there was a lot of confusion. Thankfully, the European Union understood that guidelines were required to ensure that the supply of essential goods would continue despite border congestion. Together with our government affairs department and our forwarders, we implemented the European guidelines for the transportation of APIs. What about delivery? How did you manage to get the products across closed borders? It was not an easy operation. Initially, we were extremely dependent on our forwarders’ day-to-day updates about the situation in each country and at the borders. When the European Union established their guidelines, we implemented them quickly to ensure business continuity. For land transportation, the biggest challenge was border congestion, which we monitored on a daily and sometimes even on an hourly basis, together with our service providers to avoid any significant delays or hold-ups. Occasionally, we had to change to a longer route to avoid border congestion. For airfreight, the biggest challenge has been the significant drop in the availability of cargo space. We had already established close contacts with cargo freighters around the world, and we worked closely with our strategic logistics service providers to access available space on flights, ensure pre-booking, and closely monitor the freight rates. For sea bookings, we did experience a shortage of sea containers. Fortunately, we overcame this problem, and it didn’t have a significant impact on our supply. — How did Teva api employees cope with the challenges? Like everyone in the world, our employees also coped with challenges on both the personal and professional fronts, such as homeschooling their children and looking after elderly family members, while continuing to work. We are very proud of the team for their commitment and their adaptability. Our virtual connectivity helped us set the right priorities for the team and share a platform for personal experiences. — How did Teva api manage production during the height of the pandemic? Physical presence during production could have exposed your employees to the virus. This was, of course, one of our biggest concerns. Safety of our employees is always our utmost priority. Our Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) and Human Resource (HR) departments established Covid safety rules in all our production sites around the world to ensure the safety of our employees at all times. We were very impressed by the commitment of our employees, and we barely experienced any impact on our operations. I also believe that all our employees understood the importance of their jobs during this time and the impact it has had on our family, friends, and society. We were able to continue production without any significant disruption.

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