Forming Strategic Alliances with Expert Cold Chain Shipping Providers

The transportation of pharmaceuticals involves a range of hazards that have the potential to impact the quality, safety, and availability of the products across the supply chain. Karin Van Den Brekel who serves as Tower Cold Chain’s Regional Commercial Manager for EMEA, discusses the possibilities of reducing these risks by forming strategic alliances with expert cold chain shipping providers.

Overcoming Pharmaceutical Cold Chain Challenges

There's little room for error in most supply chains, but faultless operations in the pharmaceutical sector are critical. Many biopharmaceuticals require meticulous temperature control throughout their journey from manufacturer to patient, underscoring the need for accurate handling and storage. As global regulations become more stringent and the call for concrete sustainability, traceability and digital integration rises, external partners tasked with navigating the intricacies of cold chain transportation for pharmaceuticals find themselves grappling with escalating demands.

Global Regulatory Requirements

The pharmaceutical industry operates within a complex regulatory environment characterised by a labyrinth of guidelines, standards, and protocols. Navigating this intricate landscape poses a significant challenge for pharmaceutical manufacturers, where non-compliance can result in severe consequences, including compromised product quality and patient health, regulation penalties, and reputational damage. The complexities of adhering to temperature-sensitive requirements, record-keepings, and documentation further compound the challenge, especially in an increasingly globalised market with nuances in guidelines and procedures. Herein lies the compelling rationale for partnering with specialist cold chain shipping providers.

Strategic collaboration with a temperature-controlled container provider offers a compelling solution to the multifaceted regulatory challenge. These specialised partners bring a wealth of expertise and resources to the table, honed specifically to meet the exacting demand of pharmaceutical transportation and storage. Leveraging their deep understanding of regulatory nuances and evolving standards, cold chain container providers meticulously orchestrate the temperature-controlled logistics, ensuring the pharmaceutical products maintain their integrity throughout the supply chain. Players who have invested in Good Distribution Practice (GDP) training is a good indication of competency, ensuring products are being transported and stored in full alignment with the requisite regulations, and thus significantly mitigating risks and guaranteeing compliance within all market geographies.

Serving an International Market

As technological advances result in new materials and biological products coming to market, coupled with the growing demand for modern pharmaceuticals in middle and low-income countries, pharmaceutical cold chains will continue to globalise over the coming years. Manufacturers are increasingly turning to their external packaging and distribution partners to deliver products over long distances, error free.  

Transfer points where multiple stakeholders are involved in the handover elevates the chance of damage or excursion. This often occurs during the unloading and loading process, through either improper handling or through delayed shipments sitting on tarmac or storage depots. Further to this, the distribution of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic brought forth a number of issues with the global cold chain, not least the fact that many developing nations are not as prepared to receive and transport temperature-sensitive products. Airports often have less capacity or lack of on-site temperature-controlled facilities and often have limited knowledge on the ground. And, beyond major transport hubs, the issue of delivering vaccines, medicines and other temperature-sensitive payloads to rural areas in developing nations is a challenge where infrastructure is often poorly maintained.

However, the right combination of suitable packaging and a specialist cold chain shipping partner can significantly minimise the difficulties associated with localised delivery while complying with international regulations.

Investing in distribution networks is a certified way for cold chain partners to provide customers with the agility and flexibility they need. For the likes of Tower Cold Chain, focusing on streamlining the process of moving products through the supply chain, relying on deployed networks of hubs and service centres is key. Partners who invest in the right locations to increase container availability and proximity to customers will undoubtedly see benefits in sustainability, cost-reduction and, ultimately, client satisfaction.

And whilst training and investment in infrastructure are key, a move to more automated processes and the deployment of technology will ultimately reduce risk from human error in cold chain logistics. Implementation of tracking tools such as internal data loggers provide peace of mind by monitoring the internal temperature of the shipment and can notify users in the rare case of a temperature excursion, as well as providing automatic data downloads throughout the transit. By using Bluetooth Low Energy Technology, each logger communicates wirelessly, sending accurate data to the cloud. This digital innovation allows for accurate compliance checks and on-delivery sign-off, empowering operations with clear, transparent information no matter the mode of transport used.

Demand for Sustainable Practices

As sustainable supply chain management comes to the fore, the pharmaceutical industry is under pressure to meet stringent safety standards whilst optimising environmental performance. The full implementation of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), combined with increasing consumer struggles with single-use plastics, has led pharmaceutical companies to favour sustainability-focused packaging and transport partners.

For this reason, reusable cold storage containers with passive technology are becoming increasingly popular as a sustainable logistics method. Passive transport systems that use phase-change materials or dry ice do not depend on a permanent energy source or manual intervention to maintain temperatures from <-60°c – +20°c for 120 hours. Robust in structure, these containers are designed for multi-year transport, thus reducing packaging waste compared to single-use solutions that must be disposed of after each journey.

And aside from the advantages of product innovation to improve sustainability, organisations are also realising the benefits from implementing more economically-sound manufacturing processes. Modular container designs like Tower’s provide the agility to accurately produce the asset base necessary, thus minimising the raw materials used as well as the warehousing and labour needed to maintain unused stock. Transportation waste stems from unnecessary movement that doesn’t add value to the product. Cold storage container providers who aim for greener practices will identify significant opportunities to reduce the excess of miles throughout the pharmaceutical cold chain.

Tackling Complexities Together

In a landscape where the unfaltering preservation of pharmaceutical products is imperative, forging strategic alliances with specialist cold chain storage providers emerges as a shield against potential risks. The intricacies of maintaining optimal temperatures, safeguarding product integrity, and complying with stringent regulations necessitate a collaborative approach that capitalises on the expertise of dedicated shipping providers like Tower Cold Chain. By embracing these partnerships, pharmaceutical stakeholders can fortify their supply chains, enhance quality assurance, and navigate the multifaceted challenges of the industry with heightened resilience.