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If Not Us, Then Who? The Pharmaceutical Cold Chain Today and Tomorrow
Aman P.
Dec 30, 2022
In what ways is the pharmaceutical cold chain a crucial link in delivering pharmaceutical products to customers safely in developing countries? By extension, what is the role of the cold chain in meeting the goals of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) new framework on pharmaceutical lifecycle management? What are the priorities and challenges?
Blog Outline –
- What is the cold chain?
- The importance of temperature-controlled shipping in the pharmaceutical sector
- Meeting WHO’s goals with temperature-controlled shipping
- What to do when the cold chain fails
What is the cold chain?
The cold chain is a system of temperature-controlled storage and transportation that prevents the spoilage of perishable goods. The cold chain has been around for decades and is used in almost every industry, including pharmaceuticals. It’s not just about keeping temperature levels constant, but also about having the right products at the right temperature to maintain their quality and safety.
The cold chain was first developed by Keith Greggor, who ran a refrigerated trucking company in the UK. When Greggor saw that many products were being shipped to Europe after they had already been processed, he realized that they were not being kept at the correct temperature during shipment. He started working on ways to prevent this from happening and came up with a solution called the “cold chain,” or a system of temperature-controlled storage and transportation that prevents spoilage of perishable goods.
Today we use the term “cold chain” to refer to any system designed to provide reliable control of product temperatures while they’re being transported from one location to another; however, it’s not just about keeping temperatures constant but rather about having the right products at the right time and in good condition so as not to lose any potency or efficacy during transit.
The importance of temperature-controlled shipping in the pharmaceutical sector
The pharmaceutical sector is one of the most temperature-sensitive industries in the world, with temperature fluctuations having a significant impact on the quality and safety of their products.
When it comes to shipping pharmaceuticals, cold chain management is crucial. Pharmaceutical companies have to ensure that their products are stored at temperatures below 4 degrees Celsius and above 35 degrees Celsius, which helps protect them from spoilage and other potential side effects.
The process of controlling the temperature of pharmaceutical products during the transportation is known as cold chain management. The concept was developed by pharma companies in response to increasing concerns over health issues associated with drugs being out of their recommended storage conditions (i.e., room temperature storage). Achieving a stable temperature for product storage has become an important factor in ensuring a safe supply chain for medicines.
Meeting WHO’s goals with temperature-controlled shipping
Successful immunization programmes are built on functional, end-to-end supply chain and logistics systems. These systems enable effective vaccine storage, distribution, handling, and management, ensure rigorous temperature control in the cold chain; and leverage logistics management information systems to promote resilient and efficient system performance. The ultimate goal is to ensure the uninterrupted availability of quality vaccines from manufacturer to service-delivery levels so that opportunities to vaccinate are not missed because vaccines are unavailable.
Cold chain storage is a constant need of the hour in changing dynamics and ecosystems for increasing the need to preserve perishables and technological advancement. It is a growing sector which needs to be reliable and better for the environment as well.
What to do when the cold chain fails ?
When the cold chain fails, it can be a nightmare. Cold chain failures are costly and often result in the loss of products or contaminated products.
In a world where the cold chain is increasingly vulnerable to failures, it is important to understand how to mitigate these risks and how pharma companies can prepare for them.
The pharmaceutical cold chain is a system that ensures that medications stay at the right temperature, humidity and air pressure during transit from their point of manufacture to their final destination. For example, in order to ensure that products remain under optimal conditions throughout their journey, they must be stored at a certain temperature range, which means that they must be refrigerated or frozen before leaving their manufacturer’s facility.
In addition to ensuring that medication remains at an optimal temperature, pharma companies also need to ensure that it does not become contaminated during transit between facilities. The reason for this is that if contaminants get into the product during transit, they could cause spoilage or degradation of the product itself.
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