Bayer upgrades temperature-controlled packaging and saves money while doing so

Bayer HealthCare’s Berkeley, CA plant is the site of Kogenate production.

Credit: Bayer

Evidence of the difference that can be made between temperature-controlled packaging from several years ago and newer designs can be found at Bayer HealthCare’s Berkeley, CA plant, where Kogenate FS antihemophilic factor (recombinant) is manufactured. Kogenate, originally approved by FDA in 2000, is a treatment suited for the estimated 400,000 people worldwide who suffer from hemophilia A, a bleeding disorder.

According to Kevin Pegels, VP of global supply chain management, Biotech Div., the product is shipped from Berkeley to more than 50 countries around the world. While certain shipping lanes for Bayer make use of active (powered) shipping containers, Kogenate is typically shipped with passive containers, employing insulation panels and gel packs for refrigeration. In a recent upgrade of this packaging, the company was able to triple the payload while lowering the overall weight of the container, which is sized as a Quarter PMC (fitting a European-dimension pallet; payload volume is 51 cu. ft.). The new container, rated for 80 hours of service under typical shipping conditions, is the culmination of a three-year development program. Along the way, Bayer partners with Emball’Iso (Saint Georges de Reneins, France), a vendor of temperature-controlled packaging systems, to finalize the design.

The company estimates that it has saved $3 million in shipping costs using the new container in the first year alone. Another benefit has been the ease of assembly, which is quicker and less prone to error than previous designs. Additional units are being ordered, and they are being tested and adapted to other trade lanes that the company has.