HDA Presents Cencora’s Matt Sample with DMA for Industry Leadership
March 03, 2025The Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) honored Matt Sample, Senior Vice President, Manufacturer and Commercial Operations, Cencora, with the Distribution Management Award (DMA) for Industry Leadership(Opens in a new window) at HDA’s annual Distribution Management Conference and Expo in Tampa, Florida. .jpg "Matt-Sample-(2).jpg")
Each year, the DMA for Industry Leadership recognizes an individual for their extraordinary contributions to the pharmaceutical distribution sector. Honorees go above and beyond to develop and elevate trading partner relationships while enhancing the knowledge base of the industry. Further, individuals actively participate within their company, as well as HDA, to advance industry relations and the state of the sector. Winners are selected by the HDA-member distributor and manufacturer executives of the association’s Industry Relations Council.
“Matt's leadership, dedication to innovation and commitment to excellence have made him a standout in the healthcare distribution industry,” said Perry Fri, Chief Industry Relations Officer and President, HDA Research Foundation. “Over the years, his contributions to HDA and the pharmaceutical supply chain have advanced the capabilities of trading partners as they navigate the challenges associated with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) implementation. On behalf of HDA, I am proud to recognize Matt for his tireless efforts to help ensure patients can maintain access to critical medications.”
In his current role at Cencora, Mr. Sample oversees the teams responsible for regulatory operations, vendor and product master data, product launch functions, manufacturer packaging and data compliance, as well as the implementation of DSCSA requirements. He is also the U.S. Government’s Countermeasure Acceleration Group liaison officer.
Since joining Cencora in 2014, Mr. Sample has held a number of roles with increasing responsibility and has led the company’s traceability efforts. As VP of Manufacturer Operations, he was involved in exploring supply chain and DSCSA blockchain use cases and was one of the original members of the MediLedger project, which won the HDA DMA in 2019. Before that, he managed an operations team that worked with various stakeholders to ensure that processes and tasks required to support DSCSA were documented and that clear demarcation of ownership existed to ensure continued compliance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Sample led the efforts to ensure Cencora, in collaboration with the federal government, was prepared to receive and deliver COVID-19 therapies.
A longtime supporter of HDA, Mr. Sample is a member of numerous working groups and committees across the association. He previously co-chaired the Industry Relations Council and has participated in the Traceability Implementation Work Group and the Supply Chain Resiliency Task Force, among others.
For more information on the DMA for Industry Leadership, including past winners, visit HDA.org(Opens in a new window).
About HDA
The Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) represents primary pharmaceutical distributors — the vital link between the nation’s pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacies, hospitals, long-term care facilities, clinics and others nationwide. Since 1876, HDA has helped members navigate regulations and innovations to get the right medicines to the right patients at the right time, safely and efficiently. The HDA Research Foundation, HDA’s nonprofit charitable foundation, serves the healthcare industry by providing research and education focused on priority healthcare supply chain issues.