World Courier, the US-based international courier network, announced that it will almost triplethe capacity of its ISO-certified, GMP-compliant investigational storage facility in Bangalore,
India, during 2008 in response to increasing demand from global pharmaceutical companies thatconduct clinical trials in India.The new clinical trials boom is due to a ground-breaking patent legislation in 2004 governingthe molecular composition of new and existing drugs. Since then, the progressive legislation hasattracted growing numbers of the pharmaceutical community to a local clinical trial market that isexpected to exceed $1.5 billion (U.S.) in investment by 2010, World Courier said.
Staffed by full-time licensed pharmacists, the expanded state-of-the-art temperature-controlledstorage facility in Bangalore provides comprehensive logistical solutions for investigational drugsand trial-related materials in a variety of temperature-controlled settings that range from +25oCto -70oC.
Its services include validated storage areas for drugs, diagnostic kits and medical devices;round-the-clock access to inventories; transport of all investigational drugs and supplies from thecountry of origin to the depot; immediate delivery of specified drugs/kits from the depot toin-country locations; drug return/destruction management and complete logistics chainmanagement.
Dhananjay Achudan, Country Manager for World Courier (India) Pvt Ltd, commented on the newstorage facility: “Especially in a country of this size where temperatures can range from +45oC tobelow 0oC, clients have found that the use of our central climate-controlled storage depot canassure product quality and hasten the regulatory permit process while significantly reducingcustoms delays and transportation costs. The shorter lead times and lower costs realized throughuse of our storage facility have brought real value to our clients, without them having torelinquish control of their inventories.”
The expansion will be undertaken in two phases, with the first phase being completed by the endof January and the second phase set to get under way in April. The facility will remain open forbusiness throughout the construction period.
World Courier, which has been a transportation leader in India for the past decade, has a totalof eight offices in the country.
The company currently maintains a network of seven investigational drug storage facilitiesworldwide, with installations in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Santiago (Chile),Mexico City (Mexico), Lima (Peru), Moscow (Russia) and Bangalore (India).
