Don’t be a pharma chameleon

THERE was a time when pharma shipments came in kilo-sized boxes.
With a few notable exceptions – Swissair, for example – airlines made no special provisions for these high-yield cargoes other than, perhaps, hand-transferring them during the ramp-to-warehouse-to-truck process. Temperature-control zones didn’t exist 30 or so years ago and widespread pharma and life-sciences distribution to global markets was a pipedream.
That has all changed in the last couple of years, driven mainly by greater awareness of the benefits of cures and remedies and ever-increasing demand for an array of sensitive medical products from all parts of the world.
Not surprisingly, air cargo processes have not kept pace with the medical advances, and now there is a rush to catch up. The winners will be those airlines, forwarders, handlers which truly invest in technology and sustainable, accountable infrastructure.
The pretenders will try, fail and quickly be cast aside.