Procurement Playbook | Smarter Science

The Biotech Buyer’s Guide to Lab Distributors vs. Suppliers

When it comes to sourcing scientific products, should biotech companies buy directly from lab suppliers or go through lab distributors? The answer isn’t always clear, especially when the stakes include research delays, regulatory risk, and budget overages.

In this guide, we’ll unpack the key differences between distributors and suppliers, the tradeoffs of each, and why many biotech teams are moving to centralized procurement platforms that provide access to both, with more control and less chaos.

What’s the difference between a lab supplier and a lab distributor?

Let’s start with the basics.

  • A lab supplier is typically the manufacturer or brand that produces a specific scientific product. Suppliers may sell directly to labs, especially when it comes to high-value or specialized scientific equipment, reagents, or kits.
  • A lab distributor acts as an intermediary, purchasing products from multiple suppliers and reselling them. Distributors may stock inventory regionally and bundle multiple brands in a single order.

Think of it like this: If you’re buying a pipette made by Brand X, the supplier is Brand X itself. A distributor might carry Brand X’s pipettes alongside several others, but charge a markup on each.

Pros and cons of each

 
Lab Supplier
Lab Distributor

Product expertise

✔ Direct from the source

⚠️ Varies by rep

Breadth of catalog

❌ Brand-specific

✔ Multiple brands

Availability

⚠️ Can have longer lead times

✔ Often in stock

Price transparency

⚠️ May be fixed or negotiated

⚠️ Markups likely

Ease of purchasing

⚠️ One more vendor to manage

⚠️ Still requires multiple portals

Control & compliance

⚠️ Manual tracking

⚠️ Limited control

Time savings

⚠️ Labor intensive

⚠️ Some savings


In short: suppliers offer deeper product knowledge, while distributors offer more convenience. But both options still require time-consuming procurement processes and may leave savings opportunities on the table.

Why this matters more in biotech lab procurement

For R&D-driven teams, lab procurement isn’t just about getting the cheapest option, it’s about getting the right item, from a trusted source, at the right time.

Biotech adds layers of complexity:

  • Regulatory scrutiny around traceability, documentation, and SOPs
  • Evolving needs as protocols change or scale
  • Tight timelines where a single backorder can derail an experiment

Procurement delays can be extremely costly: on average, clinical trial expenses run $40,000/day, and each day of delay may incur up to $500,000 in lost drug sales, according to Applied Clinical Trials. Further, a study published in JAMA revealed that over 70% of trials finish more than a year behind schedule, driven largely by bottlenecks in equipment acquisition and approvals

Why biotech teams are shifting to smart procurement platforms

Instead of choosing between managing supplier and distributor relationships separately, many biotech companies are turning to biotech procurement solutions that do both, such as ZAGENO.

Here’s how procurement platforms compare when added to the mix:

Feature
Supplier
Distributor
Procurement Platform (ZAGENO)

Product expertise

✔ Direct from brand

⚠️ Varies by rep

✔ Access to supplier data, SLAs, specs, and white-glove customer service team

Breadth of catalog

❌ Brand-specific

✔ Multiple brands

✔ 5,300+ suppliers and 40M+ SKUs

Availability

⚠️ Longer lead times

✔ Often stocked

✔ Real-time availability and lead times

Price transparency

⚠️ May vary or be opaque

⚠️ Markups possible

✔ Side-by-side price comparisons

Ease of purchasing

⚠️ Manual, one-by-one

⚠️ Still multiple vendors

✔ Single-entry point to marketplace and nonmarketplace purchases, one cart, one invoice, all vendors

Control & compliance

⚠️ Manual tracking

⚠️ Limited control

✔ Smart routing, supplier controls, audit trail

Time savings

⚠️ Labor intensive

⚠️ Some savings

✔ Significant time savings for lab & finance teams

In short: Procurement platforms offer the breadth of distributors, the depth of suppliers, and a streamlined experience neither can match alone.

ZAGENO lets you manage lab supply ordering across all supplier types, without sacrificing compliance, visibility, or speed.

Read more: Biotech Procurement Solution Comparison: What to Look for and What to Avoid

Future-proofing your lab’s buying strategy

The supplier vs. distributor question used to define how biotech labs operated. But in today’s environment, with supply chain volatility, and growing regulatory pressure, it’s no longer a binary choice.

Instead, the smartest teams are building procurement strategies that combine the reach of distributors with the reliability of suppliers, all managed through a flexible, centralized platform.

ZAGENO depicted on laptop and mobile

Ready to simplify your lab supply sourcing?

Explore how ZAGENO can give your team total control, greater visibility, and fewer vendor headaches, all while improving speed to science. Request a demo today.

 

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