As President Trump’s war in Iran rages on, it’s posing a growing threat to the pharmaceutical supply chain and risks spiking the prices of many drugs, particularly those that depend on petrochemicals.
The war in Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz have caused energy prices to jump and disrupted supply chains for a range of industries. While the Middle East is not a major pharmaceutical producer like China or India, there are still products that originate from the region, and many drugs rely on petrochemicals to be made.
“If the instability really persists, you’ll probably see lead times, transportation costs that can impact direct items that we need for our medicines, including the key starting materials into active pharmaceutical ingredients,” Gerren McHam, vice president of external affairs at the API Innovation Center, told The Hill.
The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) issued a risk assessment report of the Middle East conflict, finding that the impact is currently limited. The region is responsible for only 0.3 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production and 0.6 percent of oral solid dose production, with most of this concentrated in Jordan and Israel.
