Talking Point: The future for pharmaceutical delivery
pharmafile | February 26, 2010 | Feature | Manufacturing and Production | Polar Speed, Talking Point, logistics, supply chain, talking logistics
Will the future for pharmaceutical delivery need to become more exacting and regulated?
An ever greater awareness of the need to ensure compliance in the supply of medicines to ensure that patients receive a quality product that is not substandard or ineffective is prevalent in the industry like never before.
At its most extreme the Pfizer and MHRA ‘Man coughs up rat’ campaign graphically demonstrates the potentially lethal effects that counterfeit medicines can have. The campaign which has won approval from most sectors of the pharmaceutical industry, shows us that ignorance can be dangerous when it comes to the purchase of medicines that bypass the healthcare system. The Patients Association point out that: “People may be shocked to learn that rat poison, boric acid and lead-based road paint is being used in the construction of counterfeit medicines.” They can contain too little or too much active ingredient: some contain no active ingredient at all.
“Fake medicines can cause harm to patients and even lead to death!” The fight against the counterfeiting of medicines is quite rightly, high on everyone’s agenda.
Another issue, whilst slightly more mundane than counterfeiting, is also crucially important to the health and safety of the end user. This is the need to ensure that legitimately manufactured and regulated medicines arrive in the prime condition intended by the pharmaceutical companies that supply them. John Taylor, MHRA says: “Control of storage and transportation temperatures is essential in maintaining the quality of medicines and in helping to protect patients from substandard or ineffective medicines that may result from inadequate control.”
John Evans is a director of Polar Speed, the pre-eminent cold chain supply operator in the pharmaceutical market and this year was the first to be able to offer the industry a truly comprehensive temperate supply chain service across a fleet in excess of one hundred vehicles.
Evans says: “Our clients are totally committed to ensuring that customers receive their medicines in prime condition. It is my belief that in the future pharmaceutical companies will not want to risk using ‘general carriers’ for medicine distribution, and that only specialist services will be trusted with storage and delivery. Even those clients that don’t require total temperature control for pharmaceutical delivery, do I would suggest, need total journey control with the ability to track delivery conditions every step of the way.”
He adds: “Were a general carrier to inadvertently store a consignment over a hot weekend at a temperature outside of the recommended tolerances or at a temperature that could damage the quality of the contents, it would be potentially problematic for the end user. At Polar Speed we understand the needs of the pharmaceutical industry and we know the precise status of every consignment for every second it is in our care.”
Polar Speed has worked solely in Pharma Logistics since 2000. Opening warehousing in 2001, pharmacy dispensing for homecare in 2002 and a temperate distribution service in 2008 – the business started as a niche next day cold chain provider and branched into temperate when it saw the regulatory authorities talking of temperature measurement in the transport of what was previously classed as ambient. All of the company’s UK sites are fully licensed by the MHRA, and the business has ISO9001:2000 accreditation.
Evans says: “Homecare is also a huge growth area. We have over the years worked on many specialist projects that require close attention to high levels of detail, starting with the initiation of our homecare service. Our homecare division started with an existing client who was unhappy with their homecare service provider. They asked us if we could take over their 1,500 patients. We had all patients being serviced by us within six months: including set-up, registration and staffing of a new pharmacy.”
Polar Speed’s consistent high service levels mean that they have built an impressive client portfolio that includes some of the world’s top pharma companies, such as: Pfizer, Sanofi Aventis, Novartis, Sanofi Pasteur MSD, Wyeth, Schering Plough, Abbott, Amgen, Janssen Cilag and Roche.
Polar Speed’s next day delivery performance is regularly in excess of 99% and pick and pack is over 99.97%. Their customer service teams have an excellent reputation due to their extensive knowledge of the operation, and the use of the Polartrack database which is also available to all clients via the web.
Evans adds: “Our clients are looking more at direct routes to market via Direct to Physician, Pharmacist or Patient (DTP). We have been closely involved with this since our inception. Our first client in 2000 was supplying vaccines direct to doctors surgeries, and the next supplied to pharmacy both retail and hospital – and this was closely followed by delivery direct to patient. The new biotech’s that are coming to market are expensive and temperature sensitive, which plays exactly to Polar Speed’s strengths.
“We have continually invested in the latest technology especially in vehicles and IT. Our planning system dynamically plans up to 5,000 orders per night and this has to happen in a timely fashion so that our overnight trunking system meets the depot arrival deadlines, to ensure the local vans can leave on time. Once the consignments are on the road we can locate them through our Masternaut tracking system which also gives details of temperatures and provides real-time proof of delivery (POD). The vehicles use Euro 5 engines which give longer service intervals and are over 10% more fuel-efficient than they were three years ago.
“Our warehouse facilities provide over 2,000 temperature controlled pallet spaces and our experienced staff are all trained to the highest Good Distribution Practice (GDP) standards. We have a first class Warehouse Management System (WMS) that can show stock levels online as well as keeping historic records for the benefit of regulatory, quality and audit purposes. The Polartrack scanning system enables us to scan parcels through the network in a timely and accurate process which enables us to meet our high service levels.”
Polar Speed and its directors are committed to carry out their services within a framework of clinical and corporate governance that ensures safety, quality and legality of the medicines that it delivers.
Evans comments: “The delivery of pharmaceutical products will become more regulated. Pharmacists will drive it and customers will demand and expect it.
“Given that dedicated specialist carriers such as Polar Speed are now able to offer price parity with the general carriers, the added value and reassurance that they offer will, I believe, be irresistible to pharmaceutical clients in the future.”
Website: www.polarspeed.co.uk
Contact: John Evans
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