TNT launches temperature-controlled healthcare transport service
TNT Express has launched a new temperature-controlled transportation service for the distribution of large quantities of pharmaceutical products. The company said its new PharmaSafe service would be particularly suited to delivery of medical products like vaccines and insulin.
The service is being offered on all routes in which TNT uses its own aircraft, between Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.
The new PharmaSafe service comes in an increasingly competitive international healthcare segment that has seen rivals including DHL, FedEx and UPS unveiling new temperature-controlling transport services in recent months.
Analysts currently forecast 12% growth in demand for temperature-controlled air transport of pharmaceutical products over the next five years, prompted by tighter regulations on the international supply chain.
TNT Express said World Health Organisation figures suggest that one in four vaccines in the world arrive at their destinations in a degraded state because of problems in the shipping process.
The company said its system will simplify and secure the international movements of temperature-sensitive items in strictly-ontrolled conditions, with the service cutting out dozens of middlemen it said can disrupt the supply chain in air shipment.
Gert de Gier, the global manager for industry solutions healthcare at TNT Express, said: “Our customers’ temperature sensitive shipments never change hands. TNT acts as one partner, using its own networks and operations from end-to-end.”
va-Q-tainer
The service uses the va-Q-tainer container from German firm va-Q-tec, which TNT said was one of the best passive containers available and in some cases means 50% lower premiums from insurance companies.
The containers allow temperatures to be maintained for more than 120 hours without need of external power supply or dry ice, said TNT.
The new PharmaSafe service includes real-time tracking of location and temperature from end-to-end, with temperatures measured and data transmitted to TNT’s PharmaSafe Management Centre even during flights.
TNT said the system can detect, predict and correct any temperature excursion without customers having to take action themselves.
“PharmaSafe comes with cutting edge packaging and real time temperature and location tracking to further secure the transport of temperature-controlled pharmaceutical products,” said de Gier.
