UPS has announced an expansion of its capabilities for handling and managing the shipment oftemperature-sensitive medical items, including 24/7 intervention when necessary to utilize
refrigeration or replenish dry ice.The new suite of time- and temperature-sensitive capabilities has been developed for thepharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries. Targeted particularly to global clinicaltrials, UPS is facilitating the quick movement of test medicines, specimens, supplies, testing kitsand accompanying documents to locations worldwide along with convenient UPS Returns processingoptions for international shipments.
“In order to find an edge in a competitive industry, healthcare companies are searching forbetter ways to enhance compliance and reduce cost when they manage and ship their sensitiveinventories,” said Bill Hook, Vice President, Global Strategy, UPS Healthcare Logistics.
The latest answer to the industry’s unique needs involves UPS Proactive Response, whichprovides a powerful monitoring engine for proactive, around-the-clock attention to help ensureproduct integrity. The contract service, available in 72 countries, includes dry ice replenishmentor refrigeration at select air gateway facilities and intervention in the event of unexpecteddelays.
The Proactive Response service can automatically compare data on where a package is againstwhere it should be and direct pre-arranged actions to avoid problems or speed recovery. Theseintegrated processes, particularly when applied to healthcare, take advantage of recentlysimplified UPS dry ice standards that meet IATA or 49CFR requirements.
“Biopharma companies tell us that temperature mapping is an increasingly critical componentof their supply chain planning,” said Hook. “We’ve studied our environment inside UPS aircraftduring flight, within the humidity chamber at our UPS Package Lab and during ground transit tocreate a solution for reliable, predictable transit and seamless reaction when an exceptionoccurs.”
