The 9 Year Supply Chain Gap in Drug Development
Prevention over Remediation: The Cost of Decisions Made Without Supply Chain Input
Mehran Bhatti, CEng, CPSM | March 2026
Abstract
Supply chain decisions in drug development are made 4 to 9 years before a dedicated supply chain function exists. This analysis documents the cost of that gap across five failure categories: components and BOM, manufacturing networks, supply reliability, technology transfer, and post-approval changes. It draws on FDA CRL data, Tufts CSDD cost-of-delay modelling, and documented program failures including CARVYKTI, Zynteglo, inclisiran, and others.