CCA to ‘shine a light on collaborative solutions’ for pharma

The Cool Chain Association (CCA)’s next Pharma & Biosciences Conference, to be held in Paris in September, will ‘shine a light on collaborative solutions to final mile challenges’, the non-profit organisation that aims to reduce wastage and improve the quality, efficiency and value of the temperature-sensitive supply chain, has said.

Sustainability and innovation are to take centre stage, with topics ranging from the potential benefits of drones to the pharma chain to learning from shippers about the importance of using the cool chain to help save children’s lives.

Radhika Batra, founder and president of Every Infant Matters, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) registered in India dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged children, will join the debate with Wolfgang Engel, head of Competence Center Logistics, DQS, and Niels van Namen, vice president healthcare, UPS Europe.

Other panellists will include Nourddin Odris, head of transport management global supply chain at Roche, Agnes Turek, project manager services at Bayer, and Navid Choudhury, senior manager, supply chain planning at Novo Nordisk.

“Cool-chain partners are seeking new ways whereby stakeholder collaboration delivers a cost-effective and high-quality service in a rapidly changing pharma landscape,” commented Stavros Evangelakakis, CCA chairman and global product manager at Cargolux.

Evangelakakis continued: “We need new ways of working together to meet the growing demands of our pharma customers and ensure that when it comes to the last mile, we are part of the solution.

“There is a clear need for all stakeholders to investigate ways to collaborate and find solutions to make sure there is a successful end-to-end chain.

“Embracing new innovations and technology is at the forefront of the debate to help fix the problem.”

The event at the Marriott Hotel at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, will include a mix of panel discussions, presentations, and debate, as well as roundtable discussions and networking opportunities.

In June, the CCA named Alha Group pharma and business development manager Nicola Caristo as its new secretary general.

He took over from Edwin Kalischnig, CCA secretary general for the previous seven years.