Medical Supply Companies Take on Crucial Role in Combatting Coronavirus

NetworkNewsWire Editorial Coverage: With COVID-19 ravaging the world, medical supply companies quickly became critically important.

Different companies provide different critical elements in the sad saga unfolding in this pandemic. Trxade Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDS) (MEDS Profile) provides a technology platform to obtain essential resources to corner pharmacies across the entire nation, delivering products and facilitating services to combat the virus’ spread locally, where it matters most. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has hired thousands of extra staff to ensure the swift delivery of a diverse range of products while assigning other employees to work on developing virus testing. Supply chain management solutions company McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) is using its focus on locally available resources to get people the care they need. Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) has joined an industry and FEMA coalition to increase supplies of critical PPE, and AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) has both donated money to organizations in need and quickly delivered a creative update to an app for those dealing with chronic conditions, helping them mitigate the threat of the disease.

A Rising Crisis

The past six months have witnessed an unprecedented health crisis that has swept across the planet. A vicious pathogen has spread with terrible speed and is now responsible for the deaths of nearly 50,000 people in the United States alone. As healthcare heroes bravely struggle to respond and save lives, access to COVID-19-related products has become critical to the success of their response.

Integral to the efforts of over ten thousand pharmacies to procure and deliver essential supplies, Trxade Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDS) plays an increasingly important role in that indispensable supply chain. An integrated pharmaceutical services company, Trxade provides the technology backbone for independent pharmacies across the nation, delivering buying power and cost savings. Trxade offers a unique combination of products and services, including a web-based purchasing platform for transactions between independent pharmacists and drug distributors; a network of pharmacies with E-Hub software; a mail-order pharmacy; and warehouse and drug delivery services. This myriad of offerings puts the company in a strong position to support America’s patients and healthcare heroes with the products they desperately need.

Getting supplies to where they’re needed depends on the integrity of the supply chain. Both consumer-facing and business-to-business (B2B) distribution systems need to function at high effectiveness to distribute drugs, personal protective equipment (PPE), and other supplies to fight the stealth-like spread of this pathogen.

Trxade provides indispensable elements in that supply chain. On the B2B side, the company provides purchasing systems for over 10,000 independent pharmacies – more than a third of the independent pharmacies operating in the U.S. – facilitating over $10 million in drug sales per month. For consumers, its Delivmeds app and full-service mail order system help patients get their medications on the same day that they order them, with minimal social contact.

COVID-19 Rapid Antibody Test Kits and Pharma Supplies

One of Trxade’s subsidiaries, Integra Pharma Solutions, supplies healthcare products to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics. While Integra specializes in providing prescription pharmaceuticals, Integra has developed several distribution channels to offer a variety of different COVID-19 Rapid Antibody Testing Kit products. Each product manufacturer has notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its intent to commercialize and distribute the test. Further, each product manufacturer has submitted its formal Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) application to the FDA for consideration. The COVID-19 Rapid Antibody Test Kits, which provides a qualitative overview of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in patients who suspect they may be infected—a type of test that will allow for a more approximate idea of those unknowingly exposed. The test provides rapid results within 15 minutes and can use whole blood, serum, or plasma as sample specimens. Using one of these products, healthcare workers can effectively discern which patients necessitate quarantine or further testing from those ready to be discharged. Test kits and PPE are notoriously in short supply, leaving medical service professionals scrambling to obtain what they need. Integra’s testing kits are important components to ensure front line success against COVID-19.

Through Integra, Trxade has made bold moves to acquire and supply other much-needed diagnostics to combat the pandemic. The company has filed for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the FDA in collaboration with its partnered manufacturer to allow use of its unique SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG Antibody Rapid Test Kit, which would allow the company further expand its distribution capabilities to its network of independent pharmacies.

As a reliable pharmaceutical supplier for healthcare organizations of all sizes, Integra Pharma Solutions carries a wide range of medical products, with the aim of providing high quality medicine at significant savings, and its success in this area has led to multiple deals with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. It is launching sales of prescription products in 34 states, providing access to high value medicine for millions of Americans.

Making COVID-19 Tests Available

Trxade will make desperately needed COVID test kits available to accredited pharmacists, healthcare facilities and laboratories that meet the respective State and Federal guidelines for distribution, using its wide range of online tools. Trxade’s powerful online platform was built to make business easier and more cost effective for the nation’s 24,000+ independent local pharmacists, who would otherwise struggle to compete with their larger rivals.

The Trxade marketplace allows independent pharmacists to obtain the products they need from over 50 vetted wholesalers while saving time and money on purchases and benefiting from discounts of up to 90%.

Trxade also provided pharmacists with a way to check the prices they’re paying for these products – Pharma-Bay. This online tool provides access to the PAC(TM) (Pharmacy Acquisition Cost), a proprietary national average price for pharmaceutical products at the pharmacy level, empowering pharmacies to determine if they are paying fair market prices through their current suppliers. It’s a way of bringing true price transparency into a market that can often seem nebulous.

The combination of a price comparison mechanic and a pharmacy-oriented purchasing platform lets pharmacies get the supplies they need at a price they can afford. Its platform also provides a valuable route to make COVID-19 tests available to all key healthcare stakeholders, —even those without a large company at their back.

Local Pharmacists on Frontline of Coronavirus Testing

Though often forgotten in the reporting of the current crisis, pharmacists play a vital role in the healthcare system and consequently in the fight against COVID-19.

The nation and world as a whole have witnessed the important role that testing plays in battling the novel coronavirus. It not only allows patients to be identified and treated but also helps in ascertaining the extent of the virus’s spread as well as individuals who may have been exposed. With some carriers remaining free of symptoms, testing plays a critical role in containing the virus with any level of certainty. The ability of companies like Trxade to get tests to the front lines will therefore be vitally important.

Though not often thought of as front-line medical staff, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued guidance authorizing pharmacists to order and administer COVID-19 tests on April 8, 2020. They are also among the most accessible healthcare professionals, with pharmacies found on street corners all across America. Pharmacists’ role as screening agents provide a way for citizens in rural and suburban areas to access testing, and products such as the various COVID-19 Rapid Antibody Test Kits provide the necessary tools to assist in this role.

Pharmacists are particularly useful in reaching underserved communities and those with complex health needs. These include some of the groups most vulnerable to coronavirus and to whom these tests will most significantly assist. Some states are relaxing these laws to allow administration by local pharmacies.

Businesses Rise to the Challenge of COVID -19

In these difficult times, it is vital to ensure that medical staff and patients receive the supplies they need, and companies across the medical supply chain are rising to that challenge.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has seen its already prominent public position boosted by the battle against COVID-19. With millions of people around the world confined to their homes, online ordering and direct delivery have become a vital lifeline. In terms of directly tackling coronavirus, Amazon is focusing on scalable testing. Temperature checks are being used to monitor staff at operations sites, and it has moved staff onto work to develop testing.

A Fortune 500 company, McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) is a global leader in supply chain management solutions, retail pharmacy, healthcare technology, community oncology and specialty care. Under its current leadership, the company is focused on helping people access the local healthcare they need. As a crucial part of the medical supply chain, it will be supporting many professionals in getting the resources they need in the current crisis.

Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a global, integrated healthcare services and products company, providing customized solutions for hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories and physician offices worldwide. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the company has been working around the clock to meet the needs of healthcare providers and patients. It has become a founding partner in an industry-wide coalition that is working with FEMA to address supply shortages as quickly as possible, as well as working with other branches of government to provide PPE for service personnel around the world.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) provides pharmaceutical products and business solutions that improve access to care, operating the backbone of the healthcare supply chain and guiding medical innovations to market. The company’s charitable foundation has committed $1 million to supporting communities, individuals, and nonprofits affected by coronavirus. It has also created a COVID-19 update to its Chronically Simple app, which helps patients and caregivers to manage life with chronic illness or a disability.

For more information on Trxade Group, visit Trxade Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDS)

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