Pharma industry needs innovative solutions

Pharmaceutical cold chain
logistics is set for major
growth over the next five
years, and that will demand
more innovative and
collaborative supply chains.
The total size of the global
healthcare cold chain
logistic services market
is expected to grow from
US$8.5 billion to nearly
US$13.4 billion by 2020,
according to a report
by research company,
IMARC. Titled ‘Global
Healthcare Cold Chain
Logistics Market Report
& Forecast (2016-2020)’,
it points out that the
growth will largely
be driven by strong
growth in the sale of
temperature-sensitive
healthcare products.
The World Economic
Forum (WEF) further
estimates that by 2020 a
third of all global health
expenditure will be in
emerging markets.
“Collapsed cold
chains due to non-appropriate
conditions can result in the
loss of a shipment worth
hundreds of thousands of
dollars. Over the longer
term this could lead to a
damaged reputation, a
sales slump, and even pose
a risk to patients. These are
high stakes and a smarter
supply chain is necessary
to overcome these
challenges,” said Angelos
Orfanos, president of life
sciences & healthcare for
DHL Customer Solutions
& Innovation.
DHL’s white paper,
‘The Smarter Cold Chain:
Four essentials every
company should adopt’,
urges pharmaceutical
companies to build highperformance
partnerships
– at both strategic and
tactical levels – to create
and manage highly
complex, next-generation
supply chains.
“In the current market
situation, regulated
by stricter compliance
requirements, a robust
packaging material
is not enough to ensure a
constant temperature range
for a product,” said Orfanos.