Entering the Canadian Pharmaceutical Market has its challenges when it comes to regulatory, importation, distribution and compliance needs. GMD PharmaSolutions’ (GMD) focus is to assist partners into bringing new drugs to Canada through GMD’s Complete Canadian Solution. They can act as an importer and facilitate regulatory needs, provide market access, importation and distribution services.

GMD PharmaSolutions provides supply chain services to the life science and pharmaceutical industries in Canada. The company’s Good Manufacturing Practice facility offers pharmaceutical companies with distribution support across a wide range of products including pharmaceuticals, biological products, bulk API, natural health products, controlled substances, medical devices, cells, tissues and organs, providing a complete solution to the life sciences industry in the Canadian market.

“GMD PharmaSolutions was formed in 2007, says Sam Tarantino, General Manager at GMD PharmaSolutions. “It’s expensive for a company to come to Canada. An opportunity arose for GMD PharmaSolutions to provide the entire infrastructure. The goal is to provide all of the services necessary for a healthcare company to operate in Canada.”

Sam Tarantino is an expert in developing and implementing closed distribution strategies for orphan and specialty drugs in Canada. He graduated with honours from the University of Toronto with a degree in Science and completed a M.Sc. at the University of Wales, UK.  His research assessed the effectiveness of orphan drug policy in Canada versus international benchmarks. Tarantino is also a former director of CAPRA and the founding editor of the e-NOC publication. He is a career mentor with the University of Toronto, Career centre. His diverse experience is an integral part of the Business Development team at GMD PharmaSolutions.

GMD specializes in the wholesale distribution of cold chain and other pharmaceutical products to the pharmacy and the patient. They support a unique supply chain network for their clients allowing safe and effective delivery of medication, ensuring that patients receive the highest standard of care possible. “We partner with our clients to design and deliver logistic and service solutions at every stage of a product’s life cycle” says Tarantino. “We offer our clients a range of services including customized solutions for importation, warehouse, wholesale and distribution, full service Regulatory Affairs and Quality Control services, clinical trial support, pharmacovigilance and customer service support.”

GMD PharmaSolutions customer service group has extensive experience in accommodating pharmacy accounts as well as liaising with pharmaceutical manufactures.

GMD’s wholesale group offers value added services such as Direct Distribution and offer their clients top quality services as well as potential savings. GMD’s direct distribution offers the ability for manufacturers to outsource their direct shipment capabilities.

The science and activities relating to the detection, assessment and prevention of adverse effects or any other drug related problems, known as pharmacovigilance, is critical to patient care and patient safety.  GMD’s team consists of Drug Safety professionals that are experts in product quality, and drug information data management systems ensure compliance and standardized processes.

In the past seven years GMD has become known for specializing in ophthalmology products.  “A service we provide called, Ophthalmic Direct, provides consignment product for ophthalmology” says Tarantino. “Some of the drugs we deal with are specialized and need to be refrigerated at narrow temperature requirements. They are not conducive to standard retail as they are expensive and difficult to store.”

GMD is active in the pharmaceutical community and healthcare industry in Canada and internationally. They participated in a number of trade missions internationally through the Ontario Ministry of Trade. The GMD team frequently attends industry-related conferences and are active members in various associations. GMD’s commitment also extends to, and is visible in their community involvement. Steve Duffield, President GMD PharmaSolutions, is actively involved with the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation. GMD also regularly supports the Canadian Blood Services annual blood drive and the “Toys for Tots” Christmas drive, to name a few.

GMD’s team of healthcare professionals and support staff provide their clients with the best services in our industry. “The healthcare industry is a heavily regulated industry’ says Tarantino. “There are high costs to ensure compliance and client expectations are very high. We have an exceptional team of innovative problem solvers at GMD.”

GMD PharmaSolutions focus for 2015 is to maintain business growth and continue to increase their client base. GMD is determined to solidify their place in Canada as one of the premier service providers to the healthcare industry. “We’re a small cross-functional team where each individual wears many hats and is quite familiar with everyone’s department” says Tarantino. “We centre on our systems that we have in place, as having the right procedures helps to automate our success and drive us to where we want to be.”

www.gmdpharma.ca