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MSI Strategic Papers 04 · September 2026 · Open access

Governing Global Pharmaceutical Dependencies

A framework for exposure, trusted cooperation and responsible de-risking.

Medicines Security InstituteInstitutional author · Published September 2026
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Executive argument

Dependence becomes a security problem when it is opaque, concentrated, difficult to substitute and exposed to correlated shocks.

Assessing exposure

Assessment should cover ingredients, materials, packaging, equipment, data services and logistics, combining concentration, criticality, substitutability and recovery time.

Cooperative resilience

Trusted-country agreements, regulatory reliance, shared surveillance and coordinated reserves can reduce risk more efficiently than indiscriminate reshoring.

Conclusion

The aim is not autarky but sufficient diversity, visibility and collective capacity to withstand disruption.

Suggested citation

Medicines Security Institute (2026), Governing Global Pharmaceutical Dependencies, MSI Strategic Papers, Paper 04.

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