New cold chain container introduced by UPS for pharma

UPS announced it will offer an innovative air freight container for healthcare products, providing a premium level of shipment monitoring and product protection for temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals, vaccines and biologics.

Only available through UPS, the PharmaPort 360 addresses a key industry issue of safeguarding healthcare shipments in the supply chain by enabling near real-time monitoring and maintaining product temperatures in extreme outside conditions. 

In an interview with LM, Mark Davis, Product Manager, UPS Healthcare Logistics, noted that numerous healthcare industry and broader global economic trends are driving the need for better management and protection of temperature-sensitive drugs and products in the supply chain.

“Having the proof that products have maintained their optimal conditions at every stage of the supply chain journey not only helps ensure patient safety but also helps healthcare manufacturers meet increasing regulatory requirements and keep costs down,” he said.

He noted that in the past, maintaining product temperatures in the air and having a way to transmit that data in near real-time has been a challenge for many manufacturers. With PharmaPort 360, UPS saw an opportunity to address this critical industry need for a solution that protects products in-transit even in the most extreme of conditions.

“One of the most critical aspects of the temperature-sensitive supply chain is the ability to act on the shipment data through technology,” said Davis. “PharmaPort 360 gives us the critical shipment data, which is then connected into our UPS control tower network so that UPS agents can take the next step, including the ability to intervene when needed to protect a shipment. This can include contingency plans for actions such as re-routing a shipment.”

Davis added that “the formula for success” in temperature-sensitive supply chain management is the combination of the right monitoring and visibility solutions and technologies, the right shipment data and the ability to take action.