Merz Pharma UK and Ireland is pleased to confirm its special partnership with two of the UK’s leading aesthetics distributors, Church Pharmacy and Wigmore Medical. As a family-owned business, established for over 110 years, Merz are delighted to be partnering with these similarly long-established, family-owned, customer-focused businesses.
2019 has seen much change in the UK and Irish aesthetics market, with the introduction of EU-wide legislation around the Falsified Medicines Directive, the ongoing saga of Brexit, growing influence of the JCCP in establishing a register of practitioners and seeking to raise standards for safe and effective aesthetic medicine and, latterly, the significant distribution changes in the aesthetic injectables market.
All of this flux can cause uncertainty and so Merz Aesthetics has moved to reinforce and underline its special partnership with Church Pharmacy and Wigmore Medical, both of whom share many of the underlying values of Merz.
“This guarantee on the supply chain means that aesthetic practitioners can rest assured that the products are both genuine and have not been subject to any non-compliant distribution practices, such as out-of-range temperature excursions, particularly high risk in some of the summer temperatures seen across Europe recently”
“Merz Aesthetics operates to a strict set of working practice standards and we have two underlying mantras for our business: we will never compromise patient safety and never mislead healthcare professionals. This means that aesthetic practitioners can be sure that when they order Merz Aesthetics brands from either Church Pharmacy or Wigmore Medical they will benefit from knowing that their product is genuinely sourced from Merz in the UK, has been properly managed through its supply chain and can benefit from access to Merz Aesthetics as partners,” said Stuart Rose, managing director of Merz in the UK. “In addition they will be getting excellent value and arguably the best customer service available from an aesthetic pharmacy partner.
Both Church and Wigmore have a long-established presence in the UK and have remained dedicated and focused on the aesthetic market. Both have fully registered and compliant premises and source their product exclusively through Merz Pharma UK who receive it direct from the manufacturing and distribution centre in Germany.
This guarantee on the supply chain means that aesthetic practitioners can rest assured that the products are both genuine and have not been subject to any non-compliant distribution practices, such as out-of-range temperature excursions, particularly high risk in some of the summer temperatures seen across Europe recently,” Rose added. There has been a recent flood of very low priced dermal fillers entering the market. Practitioners need to be aware that where prices seem too good to be true there is a very real chance that some corners have been cut. Good Distribution Practice requires investment and diligence and this costs money. But it is there for a reason – to assure customers that the product that they ultimately inject into their patients – and possibly themselves – are both genuine i.e. not counterfeit, and are in the same condition as when they left the factory.
For example, any product shipped over the fiercely hot summer seen in Europe, where temperatures reached 40°C, that did not go in refrigerated containers will almost certainly have breached the maximum upper storage temperature for quality. Merz uses temperature logging devices and any product which has exceeded 25°C in transit is quarantined and destroyed. Many of the highly discounted products are unlikely to have had this safeguard and may remain on the market, posing a potential risk to patient safety and practitioners’ businesses.
Rose reiterates, “This summer has seen an unprecedented demand for Merz UK with our partners, with one product running out of over a year’s supply of medicinal samples in less than one month. Practitioners seem to really appreciate the benefits of partnering with two of the best pharmacy distributors in the UK and the only global pharmaceutical company whose primary focus is aesthetic medicine.” Rose, continued, “Our sales and customer services teams are working in close partnership with the Church and Wigmore teams to ensure practitioners get great value and excellent service and the response that we have had has been overwhelming. We look forward to continued partnership working and welcoming new customers to the Merz portfolio every day.”
About Merz
With approximately 3,000 employees and a direct presence in 28 countries, Merz is a global, family-owned medical aesthetics and neurotoxin company based in Frankfurt, Germany. Privately held for 110 years, the company is distinguished by its commitment to innovation, solid financial strength and continuous growth. In addition to its comprehensive portfolio of medical aesthetic products in the device, injectable and skincare categories, Merz also focuses on the treatment of neurologically-induced movement disorders. More information is available at merzpharma.co.uk.
