pharma supply chains

Visibility lacking in high-stakes pharmaceutical sector

Red truck drives on highway in mountainous region

Moving pharmaceuticals has always been a high-stakes job teeming with threats to bottom lines and, more importantly, human lives. The headwinds that pharma companies — as well as doctors and patients themselves — face were highlighted in 2020, as the logistics industry was saddled with the complex task of sourcing and delivering highly sensitive COVID-19 vaccine doses. 

Research from Statista revealed that approximately $1.27 trillion was spent on medicines alone in the U.S. during 2020. With...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/visibility-lacking-in-high-stakes-pharmaceutical-sector

Amid semiconductor shortage, resale markets take off

Resale and secondary markets show growth amid semiconductor shortage

Here’s a crazy stat: If you wanted to buy a used car right now, there’s a good chance it would cost you more than a new model of that same car.

It sounds impossible, but that is exactly what is happening. With a shortage of semiconductors and automotive factories closing down left and right, new cars simply aren’t being produced, and that’s caused the value of cars on secondary and resale markets to skyrocket — to the point where they’re often more expensive than new cars.

But it isn’t just new...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/amid-semiconductor-shortage-resale-markets-take-off

Cold Chain Summit: Challenges in pharmaceutical logistics

Pharmaceutical logistics had to adapt quickly to distribute vaccines at cold temperatures.

This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Cold Chain Summit Wednesday.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Cold chain challenges in the pharmaceutical industry.

DETAILS: The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the cold chain’s role in the pharmaceutical industry. Alex Guite, with the drug distributor World Courier, explains how the cold chain took on that challenge and what drug distributors have learned about the cold chain from the pandemic.

SPEAKER: Guite is the vice president of services and alliances...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cold-chain-summit-challenges-in-pharmaceutical-logistics

COVID vaccine rollout won’t adversely affect other medical supply chains (with video)

The global rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine has not only taxed the pharmaceutical supply chain but placed it under a magnifying glass, generating concerns about supply chains of non-COVID-related pharmaceutical products. To gain data-driven insights around these questions, FreightWaves’ Zach Strickland interviewed Christopher Engel, the commercial supply chain service director for World Courier, an AmerisourceBergen company. 

“The global rollout of the vaccine is estimated to generate about...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/covid-vaccine-rollout-wont-adversely-affect-other-medical-supply-chains-with-video

Kuehne + Nagel goes after China pharma logistics

A man with a hard hat and yellow vest kneels to place label on small pallet before putting into refrigerator.

Two days after signing a definitive contract to acquire Hong Kong-based import/export facilitator Apex International Corp., mega-logistics services provider Kuehne + Nagel International AG struck a strategic partnership with Chinese pharmaceutical distributor Jointown, making good on recent plans to expand business in Asia.

Kuehne + Nagel, headquartered in Switzerland and number two in the world for logistics services based on gross revenue, said Wednesday it has entered into a partnership with...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/kuehne-nagel-goes-after-china-pharma-logistics

Airport cargo communities collaborate to optimize vaccine transport

Image of COVID vaccine vials on left, and a large freighter taking off from runway (view from behind)

Airports should use their influence as regional economic engines to organize logistics companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and regulators into close-knit cargo communities that collectively plan COVID-19 vaccine transport to prevent delays or product damage, according to a new report.

With so many handoffs — factory, freight forwarder, shuttle trucker, airline warehouse, aircraft, customs clearance — and extra security precautions, the opportunity for breakdowns is high without a team...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/airport-cargo-communities-collaborate-to-optimize-vaccine-transport

Emirates delivers first COVID-19 vaccines to UAE

A cargo container on the tarmac at night after being unloaded from a large jet.

Emirates has delivered the first COVID-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and German partner BioNTech to the United Arab Emirates. The shipment for the Dubai Health Authority arrived in Dubai on a regularly scheduled Boeing 777 passenger flight from Brussels, the airline announced Wednesday.

On arrival, the containers with vaccines were the first to be unloaded from the aircraft and taken to Emirates SkyCargo’s dedicated pharmaceutical facility to be stored at ultra-cold...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/emirates-delivers-first-covid-19-vaccine-to-uae

FreightWaves announces Global Supply Chain Week virtual conference

Global Supply Chain conference

Toilet paper and cleaning supply shortages are just two of the memories Americans will have when 2020 is revisited. But the shortages revealed something else about America: how important the often unseen and rarely talked about (outside of the industry) supply chain is to the nation’s economic engine.

The supply chain finally got its due in 2020, and that spotlight will continue into 2021.

FreightWaves is hosting Global Supply Chain Week — actually eight full days total — of virtual content...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/free-global-supply-chain-week-virtual-conference-announced

US fine-tunes plans for COVID vaccine distribution

A silver refrigerated tractor trailer going down the highway with image of coronavirus superimposed next to it.

(Updated 4:55 P.M. ET, Dec. 3, with details of Pfizer supply chain issues)

The U.S. government has set a mid-December date to begin rolling out Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) COVID-19 vaccine, but the day is merely a target for planning purposes as states get informed of their initial allocations from the existing stockpile, officials said Wednesday. Deliveries will ramp up from 40 million doses in December to 100 million in February.

A Food and Drug Administration panel of experts is scheduled to meet...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-fine-tunes-plans-for-covid-vaccine-distribution

Pharma supply chain faces challenges, even before COVID vaccine distribution

pharma supply chain

Distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine will be the prime objective for many in the pharmaceutical supply chain in 2021, but based on a new survey, concerns about the state of the supply chain could slow effective and timely distribution. And it goes beyond the expected issues with the temperature-controlled nature of the vaccine.

“Be mindful that the storage and transportation requirements for at least two of the vaccine candidates requires that they be kept at minus 75 degrees – something that the...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/pharma-supply-chain-faces-challenges-even-before-covid-vaccine-distribution

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