Dumping the middleman

In Germany, drug companies have to cope with a great deal of parallel trade to and from other European countries, as well as drug counterfeiting. Last week, Pfizer Deutschland GmbH announced a plan to regain control of sales. It is planning to reorganize its distribution channels to track the path of its prescription drugs from its central distribution center to the local pharmacies.

"Because of a plentitude of players and sources, the current supply chain is complex, and the origin of ordered products often lacks transparency," noted Franziska Theobald, a spokesperson for Pfizer Deutschland, the German subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. (PFE, New York, N.Y.)...