Navigating Pharmaceutical Turbulence: Resilience in Bangladesh's Supply Chain Amidst the COVID-19 Storm

The COVID-19 outbreak has significantly impacted global value chains, especially the pharmaceutical value chain in the importation of APIs. This paper discusses the effects of these disruptions on the pharmaceutical supply chain in Bangladesh, a country that relies on imports for about 90% of its APIs. As such, the research employs both qualitative and quantitative data collected through interviews with stakeholders and government documents, global surveys, and reports. The study highlights that Bangladesh faces severe threats in the pharmaceutical supply chain in terms of medicines’ production and availability, rising costs, compromised healthcare services, loss of jobs, and trade inequality. The study also assesses the performance of contingency strategies adopted during the pandemic, including supply chain redundancy, domestic production, and supply chain technology. The paper also emphasizes the necessity of PPSs and puts forward policy implications to enhance the supply chain vulnerability. Furthermore, it points out the importance of long-term research and the crucial need for the formation of new evaluation criteria for supply chain flexibility concerning future worldwide crises.