India’s Blue Dart prepares for vaccine shipments
06 / 10 / 2020
India-based express firm Blue Dart is working closely with the pharma sector to prepare for a Covid-19 vaccine.
The company, which is part-owned by Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL), said that it is actively working with pharmaceutical organisations as the development of a Covid-19 vaccine continues.
The B757 operator said that as the Covid-19 vaccine process leapfrogs across development phases, stringent temperature control requirements (up to -80°C) are required for its transportation and warehousing.
Blue Dart head of business development Ketan Kulkarni said: “The right partnerships are vital to secure critical medical supplies during health emergencies. We are actively working with various pharmaceutical organisations that are conducting clinical trials to produce a Covid-19 vaccine in India in their pre and post production journey.
“As a part of the DP DHL Group, Blue Dart has the knowhow of the internal best practices in the life sciences and healthcare logistics business and is a part of a large global logistics network which allows us to use each of our sister business unit’s strength in providing the best solution to our customer.
“A number of factors such as warehousing, packaging and transportation, regional distribution competence, consistent temperature management, requirement of special equipment and availability of trained personnel to handle the temperature-sensitive vaccines will come into play once the vaccine is developed.
“With an agile response team overseeing the upscaling of our current capabilities, strong fleet of dedicated Boeing 757 aircraft and robust infrastructure for our Temperature Controlled Logistics solutions, we are capable and prepared to meet any immediate large-scale demand.”
The company said it was ramping up the infrastructure of its temperature-controlled logistics sector, although did not provide any further details.
“Blue Dart has continuously worked with the medical equipment and pharmaceuticals sector to maintain the supply chain and deliver critical shipment and essential supplies including Covid vaccine samples, temperature-controlled movement of Covid-19 testing kits, ventilators, PPE, testing kits, reagents, enzymes, respirators, surgical masks, goggles and gloves amongst other critical material,” Blue Dart added.
