Source: Life Science Leader
By Fred Olds
For the pharma industry, the challenges of cold chain transport
continue to grow. The consequence of error or omission can be serious
for patient safety — and company financial viability.
Technology has made both the health products and the capability to
transport and monitor them in transit more complex. Mark Mohr, manager
of product development and specialty sales for Continental Airlines,
says logisticians welcome new technology to improve efficiency, but are
alert for unintended consequences. For instance, to reduce weight and
increase fuel economy, composite material is replacing aluminum in new
airframes. Aluminum transfers heat better than composite by a factor of
20% to 200%. This change in material could result in a critical
temperature difference that affects the efficacy of pharmaceuticals in
transit with his airline. Pharma has to rely on transportation service
providers to resolve questions like this and ship products under the
strict conditions needed to preserve efficacy. The ultimate
responsibility, however, still falls on the pharma company.
Planning
“There is never enough planning,” says Bob Gahan, VP Global Sales –
Healthcare for DB Schenker Inc., and planning needs to start as early as
possible. Each shipment is a singular experience regardless of how
often it’s been done before. Gahan says unexpected events have a way of
nudging critical steps in plans. During his daughter’s spring break in
April 2010, Gahan had planned time with his family. Unexpectedly, much
of European airspace was closed by the eruption of Mount
Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. He recalls using contingency plans to
reroute shipments on his cell phone while attending his daughter’s
lacrosse games.
At the Boston Marathon, he received a call to secure an urgent delivery
of blood product to Europe. Passenger flights were not operating. The
only option was to charter a 767 all-cargo freighter. Spain was open,
but overburdened with other rerouting. Late that evening after a day of
coordination between the United States and Europe, the manufacturer and
Gahan agreed on an alternative option. Leipzig was open, and the
manufacturer had enough resources there to arrange receipt of the
product. Working with governmental agencies, manufacturer reps obtained
landing rights for Leipzig in 6 hours under a “medical emergency,”
normally a five-day process.
