“The Horseshoe Nails” by James Baldwin (1924-1987)

For the want of a nail the shoe was lost;
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost;
For the want of a horse the battle was lost;
For the failure of battle the kingdom was lost;—
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

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Throughout the last 30+ years, many pharma companies worked to outsource their low-value starting materials, many produced in-house in the US, to China and India. The rationale, at the time, was sound. Outsourcing provided opportunities for a lower cost raw material and a lower cost of goods (COGS) for the final product, either API or drug product. 

This strategy also opened valuable manufacturing assets in the US for higher value intermediates and new development products.  It also allowed the US to develop new cGMP partners in new markets expanding its manufacturing base.

That outsourcing strategy was successful for more than 30 years. The generic industry thrived, and branded products expanded opportunities for low-cost raw material feed. Ultimately, a critical lesson was forgotten. It was a rule of thumb on our teams, for both commercial and development products, to dual source as much as possible and as early as possible.

We strove to provide sound alternatives for all sourced materials so that our customers (both internal in the corporate world or external when dealing with contract clients) had a broad supply base as the products developed.

BUILDING A COMPLETE SUPPLIER PORTFOLIO FOR CLIENTS

We took the strategic position that as the product developed, the cream of the supplier crop would rise to the top of the chain, and we would have multiple options for manufacturing our end-product. Early on, this took time and expense. Multiple suppliers had to be evaluated on capabilities, price, quality and regulatory positions at a minimum. Many hours were invested as suppliers tried to meet our demands and our team tried to build a complete supplier portfolio for our clients. In the end, our goal to present at least two, high quality, cost compliant, dependable suppliers to our customer was met. In our eyes, this represented a robust, dependable supply chain as the target product moved through the process to being a commercial pharmaceutical product.

Inevitably, though, cost became an issue. For some products, there simply wasn’t a sufficient purchase volume to keep them interested in supplying. In other cases, negotiating commercial supply agreements or purchase orders often pitted one supplier against another. After too many periods of losing a bid, some suppliers dropped out, and the cost to our client of maintaining multiple suppliers in their systems became a burden. Eventually, there were goals to reduce the supplier base. Through a combination of these evolutionary lines, the supply chains slimmed down to one supplier per item: efficient and low-cost to manage, but not strategically sound.

FIGHT FOR DUAL SOURCING

COVID-19 has taught us that skinny supply chains are dangerous. Whether it’s a pandemic or natural disaster, it’s easy to fracture a skinny chain. We’re seeing pushes in the industry to analyze the development of US-domestic raw material manufacturers. That’s a significant challenge given that off-shoring those basic technologies severely depleted the ability to manufacture some types of compounds. The capacity simply isn’t there, and a large investment of money and time will be needed to bring it back.

We think it’s critical that product development managers sincerely fight for dual sourcing in their supply chains, not simply for critical items, but ALL items where possible. Utilizing partners in the US, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, as well as China and India, still allows for developing broad, stable supply chains for critical need products.

Dual sourcing simply needs to be a primary factor going forward. Supply chain specialists, product managers, marketing managers, and senior management need to remember the risks we’re seeing play out now and build the dual-sourcing cost into their products in order to assure adequate supply.

Deciding to enroll in a master’s degree in public health right when a pandemic sweeps across America is wonderful and horrifying. Whenever I meet someone, and they learn that I am studying a science that is extremely polarizing, I get the question “what is that like?”

This pandemic is one of the greatest, scariest, and most complex learning experiences life could ever throw my way. Public Health is a broad topic, but I decided to dive headfirst into one of the more romanticized pillars of Public Health: epidemiology.

As students, we get to peek behind the curtain to see how all these numbers we see on the news about COVID-19 are generated and, most importantly, what these numbers really mean. We get to see how these numbers incorporate into decisions in theory. Not only do we get to learn theory, we learn the theory in parallel with seeing epidemiology in practice, in real-time, and putting what we are currently learning to use.

Diving into Covid-19: Numbers Don’t Lie

We’ve been dissecting news articles and peer-reviewed studies about COVID-19 so we can digest and incorporate what we learned in class to make sense of situations at hand.

This comes with fear and aggravation as we have seen the national response unfold since late 2019. From resistances to wearing masks and getting vaccines to the numerous ways society has successfully adapted to these resistances and challenges.

We have learned rather quickly that strategies on how to deal with issues will always be up for a political debate, yet the numbers themselves should never be twisted and turned into something they are not. We have seen how this abuse of data can cause irreparable damage. However, we saw the immense success of what evidence-based practice can accomplish with re-opening of economies across the country and the success communities felt with the reduction in community spread of this disease.

Perseverance, Hope and the Love of Science

Even through the successes, we still have a long way to go, but these triumphs bring students of Public Health hope, reinvigoration to persevere, and love for the science of Public Health and its growing importance in everyone’s lives. Not only have I witnessed the stuff in which legends of science are made, I get to be part of the next generation that is cultivated from this hardship.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a big part of all of our lives, and it is something we will remember forever. With all the challenges internally and externally I have felt along this road through the pandemic, it has strengthened my resolve and passion to study public health. While we still have a long way to go, we are all in this together.

The World is a Responsibility, Not a Punishment

I cannot help but think about one of my favorite spoken word poems: “Shoulders” by Canadian poet Shane Koyczan (it’s definitely worth the trip to YouTube). Shane Koyczan likens global crisis to the Greek titan Atlas “Atlas is caught between two different telling’s of his story. In the first he leads a rebellion against Olympus and is forced to hold the heavens on his shoulders for eternity. In the second story, he is chosen to be the guardian of the pillars that hold up the Earth and sky. I prefer the second story. It means the world is not a punishment but, rather, a responsibility.”

Koyczan elaborates that Atlas is not just one person, he symbolizes humanity. We have a responsibility to one another because we are all connected. When we come together and everyone shoulders the burden of a crisis, we can turn “impossible” into “somehow.” And I think, after having observed everything this last year, it gives me hope that there are people willing to shoulder the burden together to overcome seemingly impossible tasks.

If Atlas were real, I’m sure he would be proud with how far we’ve come. I am.

If you’ve ever visited the GreenField offices, you’ve had the opportunity to meet our dogs.  They’ve been a fixture since 2006 when I first started bringing my golden retriever, Tigger, to work.  This all started when the GreenField team was in San Francisco for a biotech customer call.  We were visiting all the boutique companies we could find in various places throughout the Bay area. We came across one company that had a golden retriever greeter in the reception room.  It was the CEO’s dog, and it came up, in typical golden retriever fashion, and greeted us as we signed in.  From that moment, we vowed that our dogs were coming to work with us.

Tigger was the first, and even though he crossed the Rainbow Bridge a few years ago, others have followed.  Dogs are a constant fixture at GreenField and an integral part of our workday. We’ve even encouraged clients to bring their dogs whenever they visit. Some might think it’s strange, but the benefits are tremendous!

Stress Reliever Retrievers

Workdays can be hectic, especially during a pandemic.  Having dogs at the office takes all that away. They are extremely therapeutic.

When you need a break, there’s always a 4-legged buddy to play a game of fetch.  Nothing clears the cobwebs like tossing the tennis ball to a willing retriever.  They’re always happy, content and not burdened by a day full of meetings and deadlines.

Studies have shown that simply petting a dog lowers stress hormone levels (cortisol) and increase “feel good” hormones (oxytocin). Nothing gets me over the “blahs” better than looking under my desk to see a content dog snoring away.

The GreenField pups get us up and moving around. We go for walks in the neighborhood to clear our minds and get the blood flowing- and if you’re a step tracker- it adds to the daily tally.

The Happy 6-Pack

Our dogs, ALL 6, are as much of a fixture for GreenField as Frank, Rosina, Nathan and myself.

As pack animals, being with their group makes them whole and being with us makes them just as happy. The dogs are better behaved when we get home.  We have our routine.  They know it and it gives them stability and structure. It also gets them used to meeting new people and being comfortable around them.  They’re less jumpy when they’re in new situations.  All of that is good for them.

If you’re ever in the neighborhood, stop by. I guarantee, you’ll leave with a wagging tale!