FedEx Express is supporting a clinical trial run by Life Science Center in Tokyo, Japan, by shipping pharma products to and from the Center in compliance with cold chain requirements.
During the trial, overseas pharma customers are using FedEx Express to ship investigational medication products to the Life Science Center for storage. The drugs are then delivered to hospitals in Japan in temperature-controlled packaging systems. After the trial has ended, FedEx will retrieve unused drugs from the hospitals and will transport them to the Life Science Center for return to their origin or to be destructed.
Karen Reddington, president, FedEx Express Asia Pacific, explained: “The Asia Pacific region is fast gaining preference from pharma companies the world over as a key destination for conducting clinical trials, given the large patient pool and cost efficiencies.
“FedEx Express plays a key role as a strategic differentiator for success in clinical trial logistics, especially for potentially life-changing complex shipments.
“With FedEx healthcare solutions, our customers have the benefit of deep healthcare logistics expertise, supplemented by global networks so they can stay compliant with global import and export regulations along with the assurance that their shipments will be transported under best-in-class facilities.”
The Life Science Center was recently upgraded to better meet the clinical trial logistics requirements of healthcare customers in Japan and worldwide.
Improvements to the Center include:
- An 80% increase in storage space for clinical drugs, bringing the capacity up to 3,500 m sq
- Expansion of chiller rooms (for storage at 2°C and 8°C) and ambient rooms.
- A new allocation room where pharma products and placebos are assigned to suitable storage rooms.
- Humidity control in the chiller rooms, ambient rooms and allocation room.
- A frozen storage unit, enabling pharma products to be kept at temperatures between -20°C and -30°C.
- A centralized monitoring system to ensure temperature and humidity control for all of the temperature-controlled facilities.
Enhanced security systems.
Japan is the second-fastest growing pharma market in the world, behind the US.
