Did you know about the important role played by wholesale distributors? We supply your local pharmacy twice a day and fulfill a true public service function. Therefore, we guarantee that everyone has equal access to medicines and can obtain these legally, and at any time throughout France.
You might have seen our white vans parked outside your pharmacy! However, you might not realize that these are just part of a massive logistics operation. Behind our vans, there’s a very demanding profession, with extremely onerous regulations to meet. By achieving this, we can guarantee the safe and timely distribution of drugs. OCP and the entire pharmaceutical distribution sector are essential when it comes to providing public access to healthcare in our country. We ensure a daily supply of health products to the 22,000 French pharmacies spread right across the country.
Our business processes are regulated and monitored by the Government.
In France, ensuring that pharmacies receive a sufficient daily supply of drugs is a public service objective. As such, we are subject to a series of regulations set out by the Public Health Code. To legally distribute medicines and health products, we have to:
- Register our status as a pharmaceutical company;
- Serve all pharmacies in our sector who are our partner companies;
- Maintain stocks of at least 9/10 of drugs;
- Maintain stocks to guarantee two weeks’ supply for our regular customers;
- Deliver medications within 24 hours;
- Provide an on-call service to cover the weekends and holidays, as well as emergency situations.
OCP has to follow the recommendations set out in the French Guide to Good Practices for Wholesale Distribution. This is the standard for all suppliers of medications for human consumption. We’re monitored by the French National Medicines Safety Agency, the French National Health Safety Agency, and the French Regional Health Agencies, which are all supervisory authorities ensuring legality and compliance. The company is also subject to pharmacy inspections and visiting inspectors carry out checks to ensure compliance with regulations.
Since OCP also operates in Monaco, the Ministry of Health for Monacco is the supervisory authority there.
