Facts and Figures: Pharmaceutical Shipping

The market for global pharmaceutical services has doubled, if not more, over the last 10 years, according to DSV. At the end of 2016, sales value was forecast to have risen to almost $11.5 billion. Markets in the global sphere for pharmaceutical products are skyrocketing. And that means it's more important than ever for the pharmaceutical industry to have its logistics in check. Pharmaceutical logistics deal with all the problems and solutions that go into the sometimes complicated process of pharmaceutical transportation.

The trucking industry transported roughly 15 billion tons of cargo in 2013 alone. The Bureau of Statistics reports that that number is expected to hit 18.79 billion tons of cargo by 2040. Of course, pharmaceuticals and medications are a major contributor to those numbers.

According to Pharma Tech, the pharmaceutical industry has moved from ‘blockbuster’ products to personalized medicine, especially customized treatments for patients with rare diseases.

"Expensive medications with low volume and high value will become the shipping norm. These shipments present extreme challenges in their intrinsic value. At the same time, we’ve seen a significant jump in the number of clinical trials conducted in emerging markets, where transport and storage of investigational medical products and patient samples can present a host of daily and diverse obstacles."

Temperature Variable
Due to the new technology in the pharma industry, many new medications require temperature control. For example, some new therapies require the medication to be kept at body temperature, while others still adhere to the cold chain method. This makes the shipping process complicated because there is no longer a universal method for temperature control.

Stabilizing Drugs
Many drugs are now moving to large-molecule treatments, which are significantly more popular than small-molecule treatments, according to Pharma Tech. But these large-molecule drugs require a much more personalized shipping solution. These medications are typically more fragile and have a shorter shelf life. They need to be handled very delicately and often need specialized tracking.

Pharmaceutical logistics solutions play a crucial role in pharmaceutical logistics services, needing a trusted transportation service provider to manage the delivery of these distinctive, high-quality medications to patients.

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