FedEx Corp. has introduced an online portal for pharmaceutical and life sciences companies to simplify booking and management of temperature-controlled parcel shipments in Europe.
Medicines, vaccines, biologics and other critical healthcare products typically follow a separate booking process because they require specialized, value-added services beyond a standard parcel. That process includes providing a validated temperature-controlled package as part of the FedEx Temp-Assure Advantage (FTAA) service, with packaging supplied and managed through specialized fulfillment centers.
Before the new FTAA portal, arranging these services often involved multiple steps and coordination between the customer, fulfillment center, and transportation network. The new portal digitizes and streamlines the process by enabling customers to manage onboarding, ordering of pre-conditioned packaging, shipment scheduling and returns through a single online platform.
Temperature-controlled healthcare logistics has traditionally involved a significant degree of manual coordination across the industry. By bringing key steps into a single digital workflow, the FTAA portal helps simplify the process, improve visibility and reduce administrative effort for customers, FedEx said in a news release on Tuesday.
The platform is available for pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotech companies and clinical trial operators for non-freight, intra-European and domestic service in 26 markets in time for the peak shipping season. It applies to air and road shipments, and is expected to help to improve efficiency and control over temperature-sensitive goods during a period of increased demand.
Why It Matters: As demand grows for biologics, specialty medicines and vaccines, maintaining strict temperature control is critical to ensuring product efficacy and patient safety. FedEx earlier this year created a new interdisciplinary life sciences unit, part of the company’s increased strategic focus on healthcare logistics.
FedEx Temp-Assure Advantage is a service designed to support the exacting requirements of the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. It combines qualified packaging, tested in the FedEx Packaging lab, with the company’s integrated European transportation network and pharma-certified distribution facilities to help maintain temperature integrity for products requiring frozen, refrigerated or cool temperatures during transit of up to 96 hours, or more. It also utilizes reusable containers to help reduce waste.
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Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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