Pharma supply chains: Why resilience matters more than ever

How can pharmaceutical companies keep medicines moving when geopolitical tensions, rising freight costs and supply disruptions threaten global supply chains?

At the ninth edition of the Global Pharma Logistics Summit (GPLS) 2026, industry leaders discussed why pharmaceutical supply chains are shifting their focus from cost efficiency towards resilience, risk management and end-to-end visibility.

The discussion highlighted how vulnerabilities in the supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and other critical raw materials can disrupt production long before finished medicines enter the logistics network. Panellists explored supplier diversification, backward integration and strategic inventory buffers as ways to reduce these risks, while balancing the cost of holding additional stock against product criticality, shelf life and patient demand.

The panel also examined the evolving role of logistics service providers, with pharmaceutical companies expecting greater transparency on shipment locations, temperature conditions, transit times, freight rates and capacity. Multimodal transport can provide alternatives when routes become unreliable, but decisions must account for product requirements, available capacity and delivery timelines.

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