Pharmaceutical supply chains are being tested again by forces far beyond the control of procurement teams, as conflict in the Middle East disrupts air corridors, sea lanes and the movement of temperature-sensitive medicines.
According to Xeneta, air cargo activity across the Gulf fell sharply in the early phase of the disruption, with some key routes seeing drops of as much as 70% to 80% and tens of thousands of flight cancellations across hubs including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dha...
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bi. Reuters has previously reported similar knock-on effects across global freight markets, while trade publications say airlines and ocean carriers have been forced to reroute services around restricted airspace and high-risk waters.
For drugmakers, the consequences go well beyond inconvenience. Pharmaceutical Commerce reported that rerouting through alternative airports and overland links has lengthened transit times and raised the danger of temperature excursions for cold-chain products. PharmExec said companies have been diverting critical consignments through hubs such as Jeddah, Riyadh, Istanbul and Oman, while building internal triage systems to prioritise patient-essential shipments.
That matters because medicines cannot simply arrive late. Longer journeys increase dwell time, shrink usable shelf life and can render some products unusable altogether. Oncology treatments, biologics, vaccines and other refrigerated therapies are among the most exposed, especially when short-shelf-life products are caught in a network already under strain.
The scale of the exposure is significant. Axios reported that 10% to 20% of global pharmaceutical trade passes through the Middle East, making the region a major artery for the international flow of medicines. When that route is interrupted, the impact is not localised. It spreads through freight networks, creates competition for scarce capacity and adds costs that can quickly ripple into production and distribution decisions.
Ocean shipping has been hit as well. Industry advisories from DSV and other logistics providers have described pauses and diversions affecting services through the Strait of Hormuz, with carriers extending routes or suspending sailings altogether. Metro Global reported that some operators have introduced emergency surcharges to offset higher operating costs, fuel use and security risks, further increasing pressure on supply chains already dealing with volatility.
The deeper issue for procurement teams is that these shocks expose a familiar weakness: many decisions are still being made on the basis of relationships rather than live market intelligence.
Xeneta said a 2026 study found that 56% of organisations still rely mainly on relationship-led procurement, while 32% use a blended approach and only 12% are fully data- and tool-driven. Five years earlier, the relationship-led share stood at 79%, suggesting progress, but not enough to keep pace with a freight market now shaped by geopolitical risk, route instability and sudden capacity swings.
In pharma, the reliance on trusted forwarders and long-standing partners is understandable. Compliance, quality control and consistency matter more than in many other sectors. But that same model can leave buyers reacting to events after pricing, space and routing options have already changed. By the time disruption is visible in day-to-day operations, the cost has often already been absorbed into the market.
Xeneta’s findings suggest that this lag is now showing up in performance. The company said every pharmaceutical organisation surveyed experienced some form of financial or operational disruption in the past year. Half had raised contingency budgets, 42% had resorted to last-minute mode changes at higher cost, and 35% reported stockouts, production delays or missed delivery targets. The same share said relationships with suppliers or customers had been damaged.
The visibility gap is central to the problem. Xeneta found that 47% of pharmaceutical organisations had limited insight into market rates, capacity or how contracted terms compared with prevailing conditions. Another 38% said they had missed opportunities because of that lack of visibility, while 47% pointed to rigid annual planning and tender cycles as a source of unnecessary cost.
The lesson from the current Middle East disruption is that freight costs do not rise in one step. They build gradually, through fuel, insurance, capacity tightening, surcharges and then spot-rate increases. By the time procurement teams respond, the market has usually moved on. Recent airspace closures and maritime diversions have only sharpened that reality by removing options and lengthening journeys at the same time.
There are signs that the sector knows change is needed. Xeneta said 48% of organisations already use market intelligence tools and 30% expect to adopt a more data-driven approach over the next five years. But 57% still expect to remain primarily relationship-led, underlining the gap between intent and execution. Legacy systems, the report said, remain difficult to integrate, while procurement teams are being asked to take on more risk management and scenario planning.
The broader logistics market is also evolving. Investment in healthcare logistics continues to rise, with greater emphasis on real-time monitoring, cold-chain visibility and more flexible distribution models. That suggests the direction of travel is clear, even if many internal procurement structures have not caught up.
What the current crisis shows is that volatility is no longer an exception to be managed occasionally. It is part of the operating environment. For pharmaceutical companies, the answer is not to abandon relationships, but to support them with up-to-date freight intelligence that reflects how the market is moving now, not how it behaved last quarter.
In an industry where delays can affect production, inventory, commercial relationships and patient supply, that shift is becoming less optional and more essential.
Source: Noah Wire Services
