More capacity and resources for clinical trial logistics

In quick succession, three of the leading providers of express delivery of clinical trial materials (CTMs) have announced expansions this summer.

World Courier has undergone a sixfold expansion of its Moscow depot, which will incorporate a temperature-controlled pallet-racking room, equipment for secondary packaging and labeling, and related CTM management services. The facility is one of 14 that World Courier maintains globally for clinical trials management; the company is also building out the capability to handle commercial 3PL distribution of specialty products from these depots (something that aligns nicely with parent AmerisourceBergen’s wholesaling-distribution business).

Marken announced an expanded supply-chain partner network in Africa and the Middle East, as well as a new operations center in Zurich, near the Zurich Airport, and equipped with freezers and refrigerators to accommodate temperature-controlled CTMs. Zurich is one of 43 depots and logistics hubs the company maintains globally.

QuickSTAT, a unit of Quick International, announced facility expansions in Singapore and Australia this summer that follow on its partnership with Almac Group, the Northern Ireland CDMO. These “conditioning facilities,” as QuickSTAT calls them, allow for packing and shipping Almac’s vacuum-panel-insulated shipping containers, branded as Almac Pods. Temperature ranges as low as -15°, and as high at +25°C, can be accommodated. Earlier, QuickSTAT colocated a facility near Almac’s headquarters and conducive to the Belfast International Airport.

9/1/2016 update: Marken also announced expanded services at its Moscow depot, which was opened in late 2015. The facility now has legal authorization for, among other things:

• Wholesale trade of drug substances for medicinal application, including patented drugs
• Comparator drugs sourcing from Russian market
• Expiry date relabeling for investigational medicinal products only
• Label application for Clinical Trials Only
• Controlled (IV-V) schedules (RU), handling, and distribution of cytotoxic & highly potent substances, within frames of clinical trials.

Wes Wheeler, Marken CEO, notes that Russia has over 400 pharmaceutical companies and is a major supplier, both domestically and in Central and Eastern Europe.