How Cold Chain Logistics Help the Pharmaceutical Industry to Deliver Sensitive Products
                     How Cold Chain Logistics Help the 
Pharmaceutical Industry to Deliver Sensitive 
Products 
 
Summary 
 
Transporting temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals is a challenging task. Cold chains help to 
transport such items effectively.  
------- 
 
The pharmaceutical cold chain logistics industry is not like any other logistics industry. It is not 
only vast and complex but also contributes towards life-saving initiatives.  
 
Several factors have triggered massive demand for cold chain logistics for the pharmaceutical 
industry.  
 
 
The growing usage of temperature-sensitive biopharmaceuticals and biosimilars worldwide and 
the higher consumption of advanced medications in emerging markets drive the growth of the 
pharmaceutical cold chain logistics industry.  
 
There has been a rising demand for many kinds of drugs to combat the increasing number of 
chronic and lifestyle-related diseases. Demand for over-the-counter medicines such as vitamins, 
minerals, cough and cold drugs, gastrointestinal medicines and dermatology products are also 
rising.  
 
With the increase in the number of diseases, more cures and treatments are also increasing.  
 
The pharmaceutical industry responds to the need by providing a broader range of 
pharmaceutical products, many of which need temperature-controlled transportation with 
proper cold chain management. 
 
The Massive Size of the Pharmaceutical Market 
 
Pharmaceutical exports and imports happen on a massive scale globally, and the industry is 
huge.  
 
In 2019, the value of the global pharmaceutical market was around USD 1.25 trillion. The value 
of the market is likely to grow to over USD 1.6 trillion by 2024.  
 
Among the growth drivers, ageing populations and new drugs to treat rare and speciality 
diseases are behind the market growth. 
 
The lion share of the global revenue goes to North America and Europe. But Asia is catching up 
fast, with India and China becoming globally significant in raw materials and Active 
Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) supply. 
 
Types of Pharmaceuticals in Global Transport Chain 
 
Many pharmaceutical products undergo transportation every day around the world, such as 
biologics, drugs, over-the-counter medicines, raw materials, and bulk pharmaceuticals. 
 
Regardless of the form in which pharmaceuticals come, they need to be packaged correctly and 
securely. Usually, liquid, ointments, and solids are the main pharmaceutical firms. 
 
Many pharmaceuticals can get damaged if they get exposed to temperature changes, sunlight, 
and humidity. 
 
As such, they call for careful handling, and it is where the importance of a cold chain comes in.  
 
Importance of the Cold Chain  
 
Like the COVID19 vaccines, many pharmaceutical products get damaged if there is any 
deviation from the prescribed range's temperature environment.  
 
Such products call for temperature-controlled storage and distribution systems to maintain 
their potency. 
 
In 2019, the global pharmaceutical cold chain industry accounted for more than 26 per cent of 
the total pharmaceutical market share, which is expected to increase further, given the growing 
demand. 
 
There has been a steady increase in the demand for temperature-controlled products. With the 
development of many biological materials susceptible to temperature change, the cold chain 
has become necessary for their transportation.  
 
The cold chain technology has improved to a great extent to include temperature sensors, data 
loggers, telematics and cloud computing solutions. As such, the modern cold chain can monitor 
the real-time temperature, even remotely, to ensure the temperature is within the prescribed 
limits.  
 
At the final destination, such as healthcare facilities, laboratory refrigerators need to keep 
temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products effectively.  
 
The Associated Challenges 
 
With the emergence of many temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products, the need for 
keeping them within their prescribed temperature ranges throughout their journey should be 
fulfilled by transporters. 
 
The manufacturers' responsibility is to keep the products at the right temperature right from 
their production facilities to the healthcare facilities.  
 
But, transportation of pharmaceutical products poses problems. The products that are sensitive 
to high temperatures can lose their effectiveness and even become toxic. And pharmaceuticals 
that are sensitive to low temperatures can lose their therapeutic properties if exposed to 
freezing temperatures.  
 
For both categories, transportation poses a challenging affair that needs careful execution. If 
the temperature goes out of range during transportation, it can seriously affect people's health 
and even be life-threatening. 
 
Companies should ship them as either chilled or frozen to preserve the efficiency and potency 
of pharmaceutical products.  
 
The temperature stays at the 2 to 8 degrees C range in the chilled environment, which neither 
freezes nor warms the transit products.  
 
Temperatures lower than -15 degrees C create a frozen environment necessary for some 
pharmaceuticals to remain effective. Organs and tissues are the typical examples that require a 
frozen environment. 
 
 
Temperature-Sensitive Containers  
 
With the strict regulatory requirements and the growing need to transport advanced 
temperature-sensitive therapeutics, the usage of temperature-controlled containers to 
transport such pharmaceuticals has become prevalent among transporters.  
 
Nowadays, pharmaceutical companies ship chilled or frozen products by the sea in reefer 
containers.  
 
Reefer is the acronym for the refrigerated container, which acts more or less like a freezer.  
 
For transporting temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products by air, transporters use cool 
containers. 
 
You can regard them as temperature-controlled containers, which come in various shapes and 
sizes, depending on cargo and aircraft compatibility. 
 
Cool containers for air cargo come in two types-- passive and active. 
 
Passive cool containers cannot control the internal temperature but can prevent temperature 
fluctuations. The cold environment comes from sources like wet ice, gel packs, dry ice, or liquid 
nitrogen. 
 
But the working mechanism of active cool containers is different. They have mechanisms to 
track and control the internal temperature automatically.  
 
Active cool containers have sensors, a control unit, ventilators, an air duct and a data log.  
 
With the data log, the transporter can measure the container's internal temperature 
throughout the journey, helping maintain the prescribed levels' temperature. 
 
The Final Words 
 
The cold pharmaceutical chain has gained tremendous importance due to the need to transport 
temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals from production facilities to healthcare facilities 
effectively. The importance is likely to escalate further, given the widespread use of such 
pharmaceuticals.