Articles By Trisha Gladd

31. AstraZeneca's Focus On Supply Chain: With Change Comes The Obligation To Respond 5/20/2014

    In the pharmaceutical industry, we have seen a number of changes over the last few years that have altered how companies operate and interact. To understand the impact of this trend and learn how some of the industry’s biggest names are adjusting to the transformation, I recently spoke to supply chain experts from AstraZeneca, GSK, Novartis, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals to find out what they’re doing to successfully ride this wave of change into the future. The first of these conversations was with Mark Holder, executive director, North American regional supply chain at AstraZeneca, who talked about how this strategic reconfiguration has required AstraZeneca to leverage their infrastructure and integrate it in a key way that saves money.

32. Merck Assesses Single Use: Does It Make Sense At A Large Scale? 5/14/2014

    In an industry as conservative as the pharmaceutical industry, it is common practice to be adverse to new technologies because they are often viewed as too much of a risk. However, in this effort to play it safe, companies force themselves into a repetitive state of employing technologies that may not be the most efficient or effective. Rather than getting stuck in old habits — or conversely, jumping too quickly into new ones — Merck has put together a group of teams it calls the Technology Encouragement Collaborators, or TEC, to look at new technologies and determine whether or not to implement them.

33. Building A Logistics Facility For The Future 4/23/2014

    When AmerisourceBergen, a global pharmaceutical sourcing and distribution services company, decided to build a new distribution center, their focus was twofold. First, they wanted to ensure they built a facility that offered the efficiency the manufacturing community needs. Second, in order to meet patient and customer needs, they had to be able to maintain product availability. To do this, they came up with a design they refer to as a “single-drop” facility.

34. 3 Steps To Successful Cold Chain Shipping 4/23/2014

    Over the course of time, temperature-sensitive shipping models have become very complex. This is a result of several factors that include an increase in stakeholders, more products in demand of temperature control, and new regulations. As the complexity of the cold chain increases, it becomes more important for everyone involved to make the solutions as consistent and simple as possible.

35. Lo Jack SCI Partnership Integrates Cold Chain Solutions 4/10/2014

    Maintaining a product’s quality throughout shipment is a challenge in any industry, but delivering pharmaceuticals in the cold chain can be especially challenging because of the consequences related to temperature excursion. For this reason, Ted Wlazlowski, CEO and president of LoJack SCI, a company specializing in cargo and freight security, believes it’s necessary to offer clients both strategic planning and security for their cold chain shipments. And through their recent partnership with Modality, a supply chain environmental assessment and engineering solutions company, this is now possible.

36. BDP Week Highlights The Importance Of Communication In BioPharma 4/4/2014

    At this year’s Biopharmaceutical Development and Production (BDP) Week, March 24-27 at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel, I attended several sessions that focused on how to strengthen the relationship between partners in the pharmaceutical industry. One overwhelming theme in each presentation was the importance of communicating effectively and clearly with everyone involved in a project.

37. Where Do Ideas Come From? Time Is Money, So Spend It Wisely 4/3/2014

    In a traditional office environment, hours upon hours are often spent collaborating with other people to come up with game-changing ideas. Even the time spent alone at your desk can be occupied with juggling multiple responsibilities and tasks. It’s usually only during downtime at the end of the day, whether it’s a quiet ride home in the car or lying in bed at night, that we allow ourselves time to relax and reflect. Tony and Oliver Stauffer, president and chief operating officer at Packaging Technology & Inspections, as well as father and son, believe it’s during these moments to ourselves that we have the ability to come up with some of our best ideas.

38. Where Do Ideas Come From? Sometimes, From Places You'd Least Expect 3/14/2014

    As part of the Where Do Ideas Come From? series, I spoke with Tony Pidgeon, senior manager of global science and technology at Patheon, a pharmaceutical contract manufacturer and development company, about not only where he gets his ideas, but also what he does once he has them.

39. FDA And Industry Experts Offer Guidance For DQSA Preparation 3/3/2014

    It’s been over three months since President Obama signed the Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) into law, and some of the industry is still unsure how to proceed with preparation for Title II, which outlines the plan for supply chain security. In a recent discussion with Pharmaceutical Online, Ilisa Bernstein, Pharm.D, JD, Deputy Director of the U.S. FDA Office of Compliance in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), encouraged the industry to familiarize itself with the law and the requirements under it.

40. Out With The Old, In With The New: GSK's Smart Workplace 2/24/2014

    By eliminating the confines of the traditional workspace, companies can encourage better employee interaction and collaboration. Will this be the key for an industry counting on innovation to lead it into the future?