What Cold Chain Logistics Providers Are Missing

By Chris Campbell

In an April 2010 article by Nicolas Basta, writing for Pharmaceutical Commerce, it was estimated that in 2011 $6.6B would be spent shipping temperature-sensitive biological materials to destinations all over the world, and that the demand for global cold chain logistics will grow at the same double-digit trajectory as the life sciences industry.

 Because the movement of biological substances (like blood, serums, tissue, DNA, genetically-modified organisms, stem cells, and reproductive materials, to name a few) across international borders is complicated, third-party logistics organizations (3PLs) specializing in the global cold chain, who have biomaterial transport expertise and international networks of agents, have enjoyed high prices and the lion’s share of the market.

 Now, however, with the combined impact of the global recession on the shipping industry during 2007 and 2008 and the double-digit growth and globalization of the life sciences industry, there has been an escalation of interest in the global transportation of biomaterials by carriers that, in the past, played mostly an accidental role.

 Many, if not most, airlines and a growing number of forwarders and freight companies are adding or enhancing services specifically and proactively to capture more of the life science cold chain shipping business. In addition, all of the integrated carriers have launched or are in the process of launching initiatives aimed at making them the preferred cold chain shipping methodology.