During its 100-year history, Zuellig Pharma has grown from a domestic distributor to one of the largest healthcare services groups in Asia. The company now provides distribution and digital and commercial services covering nearly 350,000 clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, and modern trade outlets. 

With tailored end-to-end services that include clinical trial management support, commercialization, market expansion, product distribution, and digital solutions, Zuellig works to improve healthcare access and patient outcomes. 

“In the last century, we’ve become much more than a distributor,” says Zuellig Taiwan’s managing director John Chou. “As a service provider, we have a comprehensive set of solutions that can improve the healthcare industry as a whole.” 

During the pandemic, Zuellig demonstrated its commitment to public health by providing more than 60 million COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan’s more than 300 hospitals and clinics. As the mRNA jabs require storage at temperatures as low as minus 70 degrees Celsius, Zuellig’s cold chain solutions were essential for safe distribution. 

“We’re very happy to have played a part in this through our temperature tracking and cold storage solutions,” says Chou. To this end, Zuellig developed the eZLogistics platform, the first end-to-end cold chain traceability, real-time temperature monitoring, and GPS vehicle tracking system in Taiwan. 

Apart from presenting logistical challenges the pandemic also prompted a digital transformation in the pharmaceutical industry, an opportunity Zuellig Pharma utilized to elevate its services. The company has harnessed artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, and machine learning tools to improve its operational agility and efficiency.  

Chou notes that Zuellig has introduced a wide set of digital solutions to bring patients benefits at a more rapid speed. The company’s extensive data analytics dashboards and tools for supply chain analytics and demand forecasting help customers make more dynamic decisions on product movement through the pandemic. 

As an example, Chou cites digital products like the ZiP insider, a daily/near real-time information system that optimizes inventory management, and the eZTender platform, a one-stop tendering solution for managing massive amounts of tendering information to enhance productivity and time efficiency. Chou adds that the company is also sharing its digital experience from other markets to improve patient care in Taiwan. 

“A lot of people were hesitant to visit hospitals during the pandemic, so the Taiwan government opened up opportunities for telemedicine,” he says. “Online consultations are now possible in Taiwan, but overall, telemedicine still has some way to go here. Zuellig Pharma offers comprehensive solutions in other markets, including delivering needed medicine to patients’ homes directly, providing an integrated administration system for mass vaccination and we’re now doing our part to support implementation in Taiwan.”  

In its mission to make healthcare more accessible, Zuellig is also taking on the challenge of upholding sustainable practices. For these efforts, the company was in 2021 and 2022 awarded the sustainability Platinum Medal by ratings specialist EcoVadis, placing it among the top 1% in its industry and rating it as the top 1 among 2800 distributors. 

Zuellig Pharma’s sustainability-oriented approach to business comprises four themes: nurturing talent, setting the highest standards of integrity, improving health outcomes, and respecting the environment. 

“We aim to reach carbon neutrality by 2030 and have launched an aggressive plan to achieve this goal,” says Chou. “If you visit our warehouses, you’ll see solar panels on the roof. We’re also launching electric vehicle fleet pilot programs and installing renewable energy solutions in all our operations.”  

To nurture talent, Zuellig runs programs for promising young and senior staff to undergo training at the Singapore Management University. The company also provides relocation opportunities to enable talent exchange and development. Thanks to its diverse and ambitious talent pool, Zuellig has become an active participant in various associations where it works to educate and positively influence actors in the industry.  

As Zuellig enters its second century of operations, Chou says the company aims to combine its comprehensive experience in all aspects of the pharmaceutical supply chain and its future-focused digital innovations to set new standards for patient-focused medicine. 

“In the pharmaceutical industry, providing logistics and distribution of the highest quality and integrity is just as important as research and development,” notes Chou. “While manufacturers double down on precision medicine and new-drug discovery, we will support the whole ecosystem to ensure the supply chain flows smoothly and patients can access all necessary treatment.”