Tanner Pharma Featured in the EDPNC’s 2021 Annual Report as Top Global Reach Exporter

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TRADE TEAM HELPS COMPANY IMPROVE GLOBAL ACCESS TO MEDICINES

Headquartered in Charlotte, Tanner Pharma Group is a rapidly growing company with local roots and a global mission — to improve lives by increasing access to medicine around the world.

Tanner teams up with U.S. pharmaceutical, biotech and health care companies to deliver life-saving medicine into countries outside the U.S. that do not have access due to availability, product registration, or shortage in-country.

“We partner with U.S. manufacturers and wholesalers to have access to FDA-approved medications, and we deliver them to countries that do not have those medications,” said Gaby Bedoya, business development manager for Tanner Pharma, which employs 85 people globally, including 59 in North Carolina.

Tanner has shipped to 123 countries across Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. “Our goal is to increase our footprint and ship into even more countries,” Bedoya said.

Over the years, the EDPNC international trade team has helped Tanner pursue that goal. For example, the EDPNC has provided Tanner market intelligence on well-matched potential international partners. These “international partner searches” have been conducted by EDPNC international trade offices or through EDPNC referral to U.S. Commercial Service programs.

“With these searches, we have been able to uncover opportunities in markets such as Portugal, Spain, and the Middle East,” Bedoya said.

The EDPNC has also helped Tanner access federal State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) grants to help pay for exhibiting in international trade shows. The EDPNC locally manages STEP grants available through the U.S. Small Business Administration.

STEP has helped Tanner exhibit jointly with the EDPNC or individually at events such as ExpoPharma in Germany, the largest European fair for the pharmacy market, and Arab Health, the leading medical equipment exhibition in the Middle East. “These fairs have allowed us to meet our existing customers in person as well as potential new clients, which leads to our company’s growth,” Bedoya said.

In 2021, STEP reimbursed Tanner $5,000 for exhibiting at the World Orphan Drug Congress USA in Maryland for the first time, as well as over $1,000 to offset related travel costs. “We were able to meet with a different type of clientele – nonprofit organizations that could use our services in procuring medications and medical supplies,” Bedoya said. “These organizations donate medications to countries that need them when there are disasters, hurricanes, or this pandemic.”

EDPNC support has helped Tanner “uncover companies we perhaps would not have found on our own,” Bedoya said. “The EDPNC providing us access to grants has contributed to our growth of about 20% a year in sales revenue.”