Private Sector in Bid for Drug Distribution

The federal government and private sector will jointly supply medications to IMSS clinics, state hospitals and high-specialty hospitals, according to the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP). The office is working on a three-year tender for private pharmacy services in nine national healthcare institutes, Reforma has reported.

The pharmacy services contracts include the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery (INNN) the National Cancer Institute (Incan), the National Institute of Perinatology (Inper), General Hospital of Mexico, Juárez Hospital, the Children's Hospital, the high-specialty regional hospitals of Tapachula and Mérida, and the Pediatric Specialties Hospital in Tuxtla Gutiérrez.

In another contract to be divided into six allocations, private companies will  bid for central mix services for oncological, antimicrobial and nutritional drugs, to be granted for the remainder of 2020.

This second contract will not only include  hospitals listed on the Ministry of Health’s system, but also 113 IMSS units and 46 state hospitals assigned to the National Institute for Health and Welfare (Insabi).

Winning companies must supply, receive, store, refrigerate, provide prescriptions and computer and electronic systems to distribute the necessary doses, as is the case of the INNN, whose service contract was awarded to Phoenix Farmacéutica and Intercontinental de Medicamentos.

The SHCP highlights that the service provider will be responsible for supplying the goods in the required volumes to meet the average monthly consumption established by the hospital.