Alliance Boots yesterday defied regulators by signing a second exclusive drug distribution deal, in a move that gives it control over the delivery of nearly a quarter of the UK’s medicines.

The deal with AstraZeneca, the UK’s second-biggest pharmaceuticals company, was condemned by critics yesterday as a “nail in the coffin” for smaller wholesalers. Under the agreement, UniChem, the drug wholesaling arm of Alliance Boots, and AAH Pharmaceuticals, part of the German drug wholesaler Celesio, will be the sole distributors of AZ’s prescription medicines to doctors, pharmacies and hospitals.

The tie-up with AZ comes seven months after Unichem signed an exclusive distribution deal with America’s Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugs group, triggering an investigation into the drug wholesale market by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

Ironically, AAH Pharmaceuticals led a group of eight wholesalers in its doomed attempt to secure a High Court injunction to block the Pfizer deal. But Steve Dunn, the managing director of AAH, defended the deal, saying that AZ’s choice of more than one distributor would “ensure that flexibility and choice is maintained for the customer and result in minimal disruption”.

“Pharmacists will be relieved that this is not another single channel scheme like that implemented by Pfizer,” he said.

The trade watchdog is investigating the Pfizer deal after a flood of complaints from smaller wholesalers. The review could ultimately force the Pfizer deal’s termination.

AZ promised to cooperate fully with the investigation by the OFT, which said yesterday that it would incorporate the new deal into its review. The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company said, however, that it hoped to implement the system in the late summer.

Pfizer’s exclusive arrangement with UniChem, signed last year, has come under attack from MPs as well as independent pharmacies and drug wholesalers.

They argue that the deal, which restricts the distribution of all Pfizer products to a single UK supplier, poses a threat to patient welfare and the NHS. The AZ deal is expected to face similar strong opposition.

A National Pharmacy Association spokesman said: “This is what we feared the Pfizer decision would lead to — the floodgates are now open. This is a further nail in the coffin for the smaller wholesalers.”

UniChem, meanwhile, sought to distance the group from the OFT inquiry. A spokesman said: “It is their [AZ’s] decision to forge ahead despite the OFT.”

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