DHL rolls out new Brazil-U.S. Medical Express Service

Global express delivery and logistics services provider DHL announced last week that its DHL Express subsidiary rolled out a new offering geared towards pharmaceutical and clinical research sector shippers between the United States and Brazil.

Entitled DHL Medical Express Service (WMX), DHL said this service was launched in November 2018 as a pilot program, and focuses on increased customer demand for faster and more predictable lead times in response to regulatory complexities that can often delay exports, adding that this service provides major benefits for clinical trial patients, as “temperature-sensitive biological products and new patient-specific treatments will be in the right hands, exactly when needed.”

“DHL Medical Express continues to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical industry and clinical research sectors with forward-thinking, intelligent solutions,” said Mike Parra, CEO of DHL Express Americas, in a statement. “The launch of this service in Brazil completes our ambition to offer logistics solutions in the Latin and South American countries where most clinical trials are conducted. Our strong international network, compliant certifications and combination of responsiveness, reliability and cost-effectiveness will enable this service to be advantageous to all stakeholders in the clinical trial value chain.”

Brian Bralynski Director of Life Sciences Healthcare Americas, DHL Express, said that the need for this service was driven by the increase of demand for faster, more predictable lead times of transports for customers in the pharmaceutical and clinical research sectors. He also noted that the pilot program lasted 60 days and involved three shippers.

“In an effort to provide logistics solutions for the Latin and South American countries, like Brazil, that conduct the most clinical trials, the service helps ensure that temperature-sensitive biological products and new patient-specific treatments are delivered when expected,” he said.

When asked to cite the biggest benefits of DHL Medical Express (WMX), Bralynski pointed to how the Medical Express Service manages the export and regulatory requirements for urgent shipments with specific temperature needs from several major cities in Brazil to most U.S. destinations in 24 to 48 hours. It also pre-prepares many of the necessary documents required by investigator sites to begin the export and fiscal approval process, which he said solves the issue of delayed exports cause by existing regulatory complexities. Pre-determined contingencies circumvent delays, and DHL quality control centers monitor the 24/7 shipments.

Before undertaking this initiative, Bralynski said that DHL did not handle these types of shipments since the features of WMX and its clinical trial platform were not set up in Brazil.

DHL said that it is the first integrator to enter the Latin and South American markets with a holistic service offering geared toward the needs of stakeholders within the clinical research space, adding that it represents a new market alternative to the commercial carriers that have historically served the region and provides a solid solution to deliver excellence to the healthcare industry.