DHL SUPPLY CHAIN OPENS THE FIRST BIO PHARMA HUB DEDICATED TO THE LOGISTICS OF BIOTECH DRUGS AND INNOVATIVE THERAPIES

• Logistics hub, the first in Italy by dimensions and which allows an “end-to-end” integrated management of the cold chain
• High quality and safety standards

The pharmaceutical market is increasingly heading towards a path of specialization: on the one hand the growth of the sector of biotechnological drugs and specialist drugs for highly intensive care patients, on the other the dynamism in the sector for the pharmacy and large volumes distributed on a large scale. For this reason DHL Supply Chain Italy, a company of the Deutsche Post DHL Group, and specialized in contract logistics services, continues its specialization strategy with the inauguration of the DHL Bio Pharma Hub dedicated to companies in the Hospital & Specialty Pharma sector.

A specialized team operates within the new hub for the management of sensitive products that require temperature-controlled logistics. With an area of ​​6,000 square meters, the new "cold store" guarantees an innovative 360​​° management of the biotechnological product, from entry into the plant to the moment of assignment for transport. The drug in each of its steps, from inbound to outbound, is handled in an environment with a constant temperature range of 2-8°C, preventing the risk of thermal compromising. The Hub also integrates solutions for the management of multi-temperature situations (down to -20°C and -80°C) for vaccines and frontier therapies. Innovative technologies, such as serialization, guarantee multiple benefits: automation of the serialization process, tracking of each individual drug package to its destination, digitization of data, immediate availability of the unique identifier to be provided to the competent authorities in case of product recall.

With a storage capacity of up to 8,000 pallet spaces at 2-8°C, the Hub currently handles over 41 million packages of specialist and biotechnological drugs. At a time of great transformation in the sector, characterized by increasingly sensitive and delicate therapies, we have decided to focus on a project dedicated to Biotech and to all products that need a very specialized cold chain. The new structure is part of the growth path of our company - said Antonio Lombardo, President and CEO of DHL Supply Chain Italy -, not only from an economic point of view but above all in the evolution of the challenges we face. Biotech and advanced therapies represent a completely new approach to treatment and require adequate methods and procedures also from a logistical point of view. From research to production, to regulations, to access to the market, the whole plant must be revised to better manage the potential of the new line and logistics is no exception".

“Biotech increasingly represents a significant share of drugs in development. Already today, globally, 50% of products in clinical trials derive from biotechnological processes and OECD estimates tell us that in 2030 80% of pharmaceutical products will be biotech. This is why it becomes essential to combine precision medicine, such as that which uses biotech drugs, with precision logistics. Integrity of the cold chain, high security, traceability and serialization of each unit, the ability to manage storage and transport at different temperatures are already key elements for patient safety today and will be increasingly so in the future"- added Riccardo Palmisano President of Assobiotec, the National Association for the development of biotechnologies which is part of Federchimica, which participated in the inauguration of the new hub.

The new logistics campus is characterized by a series of solutions in line with the company's Go Green environmental protection program. The site was built ensuring a high energy efficiency and level of insulation; thanks to high-performance dehumidification systems, the humidity rate is reduced in order to maximize the thermo-hygrometric comfort of the operators. A Control Tower, thanks to multiple and individually certified probes, guarantees precise control of the constant temperature in the range.

Other elements of characterization of the hub concern the advanced protection systems, a high-security area used for the storage of high-value materials and a GMP area, authorized by AIFA, for the management of vaccines and quarantined products, all always in an environment of 2-8 ° C.