A Crisis Within the Crisis: The Impact of Covid-19 and Brexit On Supply Chains in the Pharmaceutical Industry

The United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union creates a situation which will be observed by researchers and economists for quite a while. Keeping in mind that the UK and the EU were already facing many difficult challenges, the global pandemic took the world by storm and sparked disputes about the economic stability of countries around the globe. In the beginning of 2020 the unknowns surrounding Covid-19 and the two crises in the EU caused a “black swan” phenomenon (Taleb, 2007). Some of the questions which concern many European countries are where and how the deliveries of medical supplies (which are crucial during these times) will be arranged. The main goal of this paper is to examine the measures taken by the pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom related to supply chains: on the one hand, the measures taken after the declaration of Brexit, and on the other – at the onset of the pandemic. It's also important to mention China and India as both countries exert massive influence on the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.