EXCLUSIVE

AAH Pharmaceuticals has admitted it was "disappointed" to lose out on the sole distribution rights of Glutafin products to Alliance Healthcare.

Stuart Lucas, pharmaco director of AAH parent company Celesio UK, said the "very competitive" wholesale sector was to blame for its failure to secure the deal, which will see Alliance Healthcare become the exclusive distributor of the gluten-free products from Wednesday (October 1).

However, AAH remained positive that it still offered both manufacturers and pharmacists a "compelling" range of services, Mr Lucas told C+D in an exclusive interview last Thursday (September 25). 

At "any point in time", wholesalers were likely to be in discussions about potential changes to distribution arrangements to suit manufacturers' needs, Mr Lucas said.

AAH's strong position was demonstrated by its announcement last month that it had secured the rights to solely distribute products from manufacturer MSD, the sixth deal of its kind for the wholesaler in the past year, he added.

Announcing its deal with Glutafin last week (September 23), Alliance Healthcare said the arrangement should "streamline the ordering process" for pharmacists. Glutafin products would arrive as part of a pharmacy's usual Alliance Healthcare delivery and would not be subject to any surcharges if purchased in isolation, it added.

In April, Celesio predicted a growth in exclusive wholesaling deals as manufacturers put more products out to tender.

The previous month, PSNC warned that AAH's exclusive deal with Archimedes, following similar distribution arrangements by other manufacturers, would "further reduce competition in the wholesaler market". 

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