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Back Urgent Transport of Life-Saving Personalized Medicines During COVID-19

The disruption of global supply chain networks by COVID-19 was causing major issues for a European drug company. The manufacturer urgently needed to ship cell therapies to the USA with just a 48-hour time window. QuickSTAT was able to address and overcome all challenges.

Customer:

A European pharmaceutical manufacturer

Industry:

Clinical trial and cold chain logistics

Solution:

By liaising closely with all stakeholders, QuickSTAT transported temperature-sensitive life-saving therapy doses to hospitals throughout the USA.


  • Time and temperature-sensitive shipping.
  • Continuous communication with stakeholders.
  • Life-saving therapies shipped intact within 48-hours.

Challenge

A potentially life-saving allogeneic cell therapy manufactured in Europe had to be administered to patients within 48 hours of constitution. With several patients in the U.S. using the therapy, the drug manufacturer was faced with a crisis when 90% of international passenger flights were grounded due to COVID-19. In addition to being time-sensitive, the therapy needed to be transported at 2º to 8ºC – from the point of collection through to delivery at various hospital sites.

Solution

Working closely with the drug sponsor in Europe, QuickSTAT delivered therapy doses to various US-based hospital sites within the 48-hour timeframe, including customs clearance by:

  • Providing and conditioning a 2º to 8ºC Phase Change Material (PCM) shipper designed specifically for refrigerated products
  • Using a dedicated air charter flight, which allowed therapies to be delivered to numerous hospital sites throughout the US in time for scheduled patient dosing
  • Ensuring all regulatory paperwork was in order so that therapies would move through the customs clearance process as quickly as possible
  • Monitoring temperatures from pick-up at the manufacturer’s site through to delivery at each hospital
  • Ongoing communication, informing all parties involved of key milestones throughout transit – from the point of collection until it arrived at each hospital for patient treatment

Outcome

  • Patients received the life-saving allogeneic cell therapy within the timeframe and temperature range required