2024-2025 Pharmacy Trends Include Improved Drug Shortages, More Pharmacy Closures | AMCP Annual 2025

Ongoing drug shortages, pharmacy closures and the vulnerability of the United States drug supply chain were all topics discussed at today’s Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy keynote titled 2024-2025 Health Care and Pharmaceutical Marketplace Trends, presented by Scott Biggs, director of supplier services at IQVIA, and Douglas M. Long, BA, MBA, vice president of industry relations at IQVIA.

Pharmacy closures have been significant, with 2,700 closures reported within the last two years. This is significant because approximately 16 million Americans live in “pharmacy deserts,” according to a 2024 NIH study. On average, communities in pharmacy deserts have no health insurance, have an ambulatory disability and have a high school education or less.

“Nearly 7 in 10 adults between 40 and 79 years old take at least one prescription,” Biggs said.

Scott Biggs

Douglas M. Long, BA, MBA

Long and Briggs discussed the implications of the tariffs that President Donald Trump is implementing. The United States has relied on imported pharmaceuticals, with 71% coming from outside the United States.

The most common source of pharmacy drugs is European Union countries; Ireland alone contributed 47.3% of drugs in 2024. Additionally, only 3% of antibiotics in the United States have one source in the United States. Ninety-two percent of antivirals, 83% of the top 100 generic drugs and 75% of COVID-related drugs have sources outside the United States, according to API Innovation Center data presented during the talk.

Long suggested that the impact of tariffs in the near term will be on the supply chain. Long term, tariffs could raise prices of prescription drugs. Investment in U.S. production of drugs will require capital investment and is a lengthy process. China, he said, has been attractive because of the price.

But they said there is manufacturing capacity in the generic space. An API Innovation Center analysis found only two of the 37 sites studied were producing at full capacity, and nearly 30% of sites were at or less than 50% capacity.

Drug shortages are currently down from the record-breaking level of 323 in the first quarter of 2024. “We still have 92 molecules that are currently in shortage according to the FDA,” Biggs said. “Over 60% of the drugs on shortages have been going on for over two years. That's concerning that they've taken that long to not reach a resolution yet.”

Biggs explained that additional challenges with completing inspections may be created, given yesterday’s news concerning FDA staffing cuts and reorganizations.

“The concern is that [the drugs] get out and they do some of these inspections; they may find issues, may be shut down, and call it official shortages.”

Shortages, he said, are primarily due to manufacturing delays, quality problems and increased demand. In some areas, such as injectables, some purchasers have increased orders to buffer the expected disruptions.

Long, a long-time AMCP member, has traditionally presented at this conference slot, but this is his last year before he retires. Long will pass the torch to his colleague, Biggs. The keynote concluded with Long accepting an achievement award from AMCP CEO Susan Cantrell.