“ContraCare is GDP compliant and holds European Wholesale Distributor Authorization for nutritional supplements, drugs, and medical devices.”
Torsten Kuehn, CEO of ContraCare GmbH is a certified physician and holds a Master of Business Administration. As a former attending physician at the University Eye Hospital in Göttingen and a senior executive at Novartis Pharma, he is acquainted with connecting different stakeholders in HealthCare. Developing service bridges creates win-win situations for all parties involved. Torsten founded ContraCare GmbH in 2009 and has led the company to an overall turnover of USD 152 million (2020). With ContraCare, he offers financial and reimbursement services (contract management) as well as distribution and supply models (managed care) to manufacturers of drugs and medical devices. ContraCare is GDP compliant and holds an European Wholesale Distributor Authorization for nutritional supplements, drugs and medical devices. Parallel to GDP-compliant storage and development of individual distribution services for innovative pharmaceutical and medical technology companies, ContraCare optimizes the use of these drugs and medical devices for efficient use by the patients. This is achieved by delivering ready-to-use syringes that are prefilled with the approved drug to the physicians or patients.
A leader is measured exclusively by one’s goals. Thus Torsten follows the basic principle of continuous optimization of products and services offered by ContraCare. There is no competitor to ContraCare in Europe that has all the regulatory approvals – for example, extrajudicial legal services based on unique expertise, financial services, pharmaceutical wholesale, GDP transport, GMP manufacturing, supplies for injection/ infusion/nebulization and measurement systems.
Torsten does not orientate himself on the services of other market participants but exclusively on what is possible and necessary to avoid the burden for patients resulting from medical supplies and treatments. “A patient who receives medical intervention without bureaucratic and administrative limitations is more compliant to a therapy,” says Torsten.
Manufacturers of drugs and medical devices have the task of developing innovative products that prove their efficacy and safety in studies to be approved for use by patients. It should not be the task of a manufacturer to store, transport, or prepare products for individual patient use. At the same time, the manufacturer always retains the ability to market his products in a globally consistent manner. This is precisely the common goal of manufacturers and health insurers: A satisfied patient with the care he individually needs! ContraCare provides this forward integration to the patient for the manufacturer and offers GDP compliant storage and transport, making patient-specific ready-to-use products, collecting receivables, and transferring sales to an account designated by the manufacturer. ContraCare operates in a highly regulated market. Not everyone can combine the services of a bank with the storage, transportation, and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and medical devices under the umbrella of a single company. ContraCare’s strength is bundling different competencies and staff with a clear commitment to dominate a healthcare market segment that seems sufficiently large for them. Since the company combines all relevant stakeholders – physician, patient, pharmacy, manufacturer, and health insurer – in their contracts, it will be difficult for potential imitators to displace ContraCare. The company is the partner for complex projects and challenges, which differentiates them decisively from conventional service providers.
One of ContraCare’s Pharma Partners offers a hormone substitution therapy with a ready[1]to-use drug for treating a metabolic disorder. Patients are required to mix the lyophilisate (powder) with water for injection and transfer the solution into syringes for subcutaneous injection. Patients require intensive training to inject the correct dose and avoid infections due to improper handling (contamination). ContraCare stores and distributes the finished drug to pharmacies and, at the same time, delivers the necessary medical devices (disinfectants, syringes, needles) to the patient. Each patient receives a medical device kit individually prepared for the dose prescribed by the physician so that the drug can be injected safely and effectively. Each patient, physician, and pharmacist is trained in using the medical devices, performing skin disinfection and subcutaneous injection before the therapy begins. In this way ContraCare ensures successful and patient-specific drug delivery for the patients.
“In 2022, our focus will lie on implementing an increased presence in the US. Through a branch office and a dedicated business development team, we aim to provide targeted pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers with advice and the option to partner with ContraCare to ensure the best possible sales of products in Europe,” says Torsten. “ContraCare is the perfect European adapter for pharmaceutical and medical device companies that are lean and want to focus on their core business.”
