Clinical logistics specialist Marken has entered 2016 with new two depots taking its network to 43 locations around the world.
In December, Marken completed its newest fully owned depot in Moscow for both clinical and commercial pharmaceutical drug storage, clinical trial services and distribution.
The secure facility is located in a new building and is capable of delivering all typical services including temperature-controlled storage at all ranges from -20 and 2-8 degrees to controlled room temperature, plus liquid nitrogen storage capabilities. Dedicated space was built into the design for drug product storage, late stage labeling, returns and destruction for rejected goods. All of the spaces and equipment are compliant with Marken’s Good Manufacturing Practice specifications.
As with all Marken depots, the new Moscow facility is managed by the company’s global inventory system, Solo, which offers clients real time access to live data which tracks the conditions inside the depot as well as the disposition of their materials. It also connects to Marken’s Maestro system which books and tracks all shipments into and out of the depot on a real time basis.
Gerit Offenhauser, Marken’s Senior Vice President, Clinical Trials Distribution, said, “We chose to build this larger depot in Moscow based on the huge success of our first location, and in direct response to our clients who needed a dedicated facility for their clinical trial operations in Russia as their business grows in this pivotal country. We now believe we have the most flexible and highest quality worldwide depot network to serve the clinical trials industry.”
Wes Wheeler, Marken’s CEO, commented: “Russia continues to be an important global clinical trial center, with the number of Phase III clinical trials in the 3rd quarter 2015 growing at 14% and with 203 new clinical trials approved to start in Russia in the same quarter. * With this in mind, we decided to expand our presence in this important country and build a new facility near the Sheremetyevo airport to serve our clients more efficiently.”
In the USA, the company opened a new operational hub in Boston, Massachusetts, in November. The new hub expands and enhances Marken’s capabilities in the US Northeast region by joining the New York and Philadelphia branches. The hub location is conveniently located in Burlington, MA with easy access to Boston’s Logan Airport. More importantly, it is located in an area which is home to a major concentration of biopharmaceutical and life science companies.
Mark Hembarsky, Marken’s Regional Vice President for North America, said: “We are very pleased to have a new home in Boston. This new hub is already fully functional and handling complex clinical trial materials on behalf of our customers. By adding Boston to our New York and Philadelphia operational centers, we can now serve the entire northeast region from three major gateway airports. We look forward to spending more time with our current clients in the Boston area, as well as introducing Marken to the many biotech companies which are headquartered here.”
Marken desecribes itself as the only patient-centric supply chain organization 100% dedicated to the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. It maintains the leading position for Direct to Patient services and biological sample shipments, and offers a state of the art GMP-compliant depot network and logistic hubs in 43 locations worldwide. Marken’s 630 staff members manage 50,000 drug and biological shipments every month at all temperature ranges in more than 150 countries. Additional services such as biological kit production, ancillary material sourcing, storage and distribution, shipment lane qualifications, as well as GDP, regulatory and compliance consultancy add to Marken’s unique position in the pharma and logistics industry.
