No matter how much care a pharmaceutical company takes over the manufacture of a drug, at the point of dispatch many variables come into play that are largely outside the control of the original maker.
In a journey that may cross several continents and involve temperature gradients of 40°C or more the pharma company is placing its products and its reputation – not to mention the outcome for the end user – in the hands of a transport firm whose business may be more usually concerned with carrying textiles, paper or other less sensitive commodities.
Fortunately, the particular needs of the pharmaceutical sector have been acknowledged in recent years by the logistics industry, with many of the global players setting up specialist divisions and a number of smaller, niche players emerging to handle pharma products exclusively.
Although some drugs are relatively robust, others may lose efficacy if exposed to humidity or temperatures outside given parameters, or if their packaging is subjected to rough handling or physical shock.
Again, this is proving a fruitful area for suppliers of innovative data logging systems that can report back on the conditions experienced by a particular load, thereby saving time and cost in determining its fitness for use.
Supply chain security has been a burning issue now for many years, but attention has been focused mainly on the topics of contamination and counterfeiting. India has become the latest country to insist that all pharma packs should carry a barcode to assist traceability, and new anticounterfeiting devices are regularly launched onto the market.
Undoubtedly these are of high importance, but security of the supply chain should be recognised as extending beyond this. Getting the right medicine to the right place at the right time in the right condition is fundamental to the effectiveness of the product, and unless this can be achieved consistently the years of research and millions of pounds spent on r&d could all have been for nothing.
