IDA’s purchasing operations are spread over three geographic areas: India, the Netherlands and China. On an annual basis, IDA procures large quantities of pharmaceutical products, which gives us leverage to negotiate the lowest prices possible for the supplier-product combinations our Quality Department has pre-qualified. All IDA’s procurement activities are carried out in close cooperation with IDA Foundation’s Quality Affairs department. We use standard operating procedures (SOP), which describe in detail which steps need to be taken, how and when.

But we focus not only on price. We have built long-term relationships with our strategic manufacturers and have contracts is place that focus on elements such as timely delivery and quality of communication. We measure supplier performance through a vendor rating system.
IDA can take over a customer’s entire procurement process, including issuance of tenders, quality assurance, transport, stock keeping or any specific service the customer requires. For example, we have been selected for an initial 2-year period as Procurement Agent for the procurement of Paediatric antiretrovirals (ARVs), drugs to fight paediatric opportunistic infections, and Second-Line ARVs  for the William J. Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI). Also with the Global Drug Facility (GDF), we have an exclusive contract in place for procurement agent services for 2nd line TB drugs (2007 – 2010).