Impact pathways: navigating risks in the pharmaceutical supply chain – a multi-actor perspective

Purpose – This study aims to comprehensively map and prioritize risks in the pharmaceutical supply chain, focusing on European and North American countries through a multi-actor perspective. Design/methodology/approach – Through a structured literature review on supply chain risk management in the pharmaceutical supply chain, we identified 84 risks. After shortlisting the 15 most critical ones, we applied the analytic hierarchy process to prioritize risks affecting the pharmaceutical supply chain, considering both the perspective of individual actors and the entire supply chain. Findings – This study first analyzed the pharmaceutical supply chain risk management literature to identify the most critical risks. It then offered a novel perspective on risk prioritization through a multi-actor analytic hierarchy process, revealing how different actors assign varying levels of priority to these risks based on their unique roles and business contexts. Originality/value – Recent disruptions, such as COVID-19 and the Ukraine conflict, reshaped pharmaceutical supply chain risk priorities, revealing a ranking that diverges significantly from the literature. Each supply chain actor prioritized risks differently based on their role, highlighting a fragmented approach and emphasizing the need for more collaborative, systemic risk management. This study introduces new research directions to address unmet, real-world needs within pharmaceutical supply chain risk management.