When it comes to the cost of shipping life-saving medications and medical devices, in many ways, no price is too high – the cost of pharmaceutical shipments failing is far higher in both the short- and long-term, and so is the knock-on effect of a shipment arriving late or even not at all.
“When drugs are improperly packaged, stored, or shipped, damage to them — or, worse yet, to patients — means potential damage to the pharmaceutical companies. Along with subpar and spoiled products can come lawsuits and public relations nightmares, tarnished reputations, and shareholder distrust that cost companies more than dollars,” states medical researcher and writer Claire Sykes in her paper Time- and Temperature-Controlled Transport: Supply Chain Challenges and Solutions (published March 2018 for the US National Library of Medicine).
When calculating the costs of shipments and how much a dependable logistics provider is worth – particularly in the case of temperature, humidity and handling – so many factors must be included in the calculation: staff time, storage, stocking up for busy periods, border control and shipping method.
Vetting for pharmaceutical shipments
So, how do pharmas properly vet their supply chain? Every company claims to be the best – so objective industry standards are pretty much the only guarantee.
Because of this, says global specialist logistics company World Courier, the best way is to choose a specialty logistics company that has certified (and worldwide) GDP compliance.
“World Courier is the first logistics company to attain global GDP certification against three major GDP standards –EU GDP Guidelines, United States Pharmacopeia and World Health Organization GDP – and the only provider to hold a GDP certification with such wide and global scope,” explains Ruediger Lomb, PHD, VP of global quality and compliance at the company.
World Courier received its certification in 2017 after a rigorous, six-month review process undertaken by certification firm DQS, and achieves an unrivalled 99.9 per cent shipment success rate – and with the uncertainty of 2020 extending firmly into 2021, that’s the kind of certainty pharma and biotech companies need.
To find out more about how the company’s internationally vetted supply chain can give you peace of mind, download the white paper below.
