There was an excellent article in this week’s edition IQPCs Pharma IQ Newsletter that discussed Seven Unique Challenges in Maintaining Cold Chain Continuity for the pharmaceutical industry. Per the article, eight of the top 10 pharmaceutical products expected to need cold chain storage in 2016 – 80%!!! This is requiring changes in the global cold chain to help ensure the quality and efficacy of these products. The seven challenges are:
- Security – especially due to an increase in counterfeiting
- Maintenance of cold chain conditions in the air and on the ground
- Planning, adaptability and contingency plans
- Requiring documentation and deciding on the value of the material
- Addressing regulatory compliance
- Adapting to improvements in kit design for biopharmaceutical packaging
- Increasing the use of technology that enables tracking of temperature and location
Better information is being seen as the key to ensuring regulatory compliance, and using data logging technology can help couriers to ensure they meet the tightened shipping requirements. Additionally, the article notes that documentation is becoming an increasingly pertinent part of regulatory compliance, even in emerging markets. It cites that World Health Organisation guidelines require that time and temperature controlled shipments have monitoring systems that provide documentation which can be both stored and accessed.
Access and security are key to driving waste out of the system, improving revenues and, most importantly, ensuring efficacy and quality of products being delivered to health care providers and patients.
You can learn more about why companies are increasingly turning to track and trace technology at the IQPC Cold Chain and Temperature Management Global Forum being held September 26 to 30. I’ll be there and invite you to stop by the Intelleflex booth and say hello.
Hope to see you there,
Kevin Payne
Senior Director of Marketing

80% of drugs will need cold chain storage