Modal shifts, medical needs

Advances in passive technology, along with cost considerations, have led some pharma types to shift to ocean freight. “If we’re talking about OTC [over the counter], then this goes by sea mostly,” says Lee. “Modal selection is becoming more segmented, with ocean freight supporting certain products, while air remains critical for time- and temperature-sensitive shipments. But if we’re looking at innovative, high-end drugs, most will look at air, because a lot of products have a very short shelf life.”

Door to door treatments

This is especially true for a trend being monitored by Toby Griffiths, Head of Cargo Global Sales & Customer Solutions. In the US, personalised door-to-door shipments in some treatment areas are starting to become a reality, particularly with CGT (cell and gene therapies).

“This represents a potentially material industry shift, leading to an even more complex and diverse end-to-end supply chain,” he says. “With some of these products being high-value and highly time-sensitive, there will always be a requirement of air freight over longer distances.”

Some medicines have a shelf life of just days, and shipments of such products will depend on express service and precise temperature control. “If this is starting to happen in the US now, we need to start thinking what it might look like globally in five years," says Griffiths.

New and existing markets

Currently, many pharmaceutical flows originate in Europe and the US, creating opportunities for growth. “Our brand recognition is stronger in Asia than in these places,” says Griffiths. “But we have a strong pharma product and a robust network behind us.”

Cathay Cargo attended the recent LogiPharma event in Vienna to strengthen brand awareness. Cheung and Area Cargo Manager Northern Europe Michael Spiegel also delivered a masterclass on Cathay Pharma. “It was a valuable opportunity to meet pharma shippers and global pharma leads from industry-leading forwarders,” says Cheung.

If the expectations for the Chinese Mainland’s pharma industry come to fruition, there could be potential network “perceptions” to overcome more locally. A lot of the pharma production sites are based in the far north and west of the Chinese Mainland, some far away from the principal export hubs of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

For Expeditors’ Lee, this could present two challenges. “Someone without experience in how airlines manage cold chain would think a direct flight to market is safer,” he says, thinking about transfers through Hong Kong. “But given there isn’t a large selection of direct flights from these Northern and Western locations in the Chinese Mainland to potential markets, that may not be an issue. A greater concern would be whether these destination airports have the high-quality cold-chain facilities required, and whether an airline is qualified to handle pharma cargo."

Sustainability

Another consideration for shippers is sustainability. “There are a lot of healthcare companies committing to sustainability initiatives and increasingly evaluating decarbonisation options across their supply chains,” says Lee. “If you want to do business in Europe in particular, this is a consideration.”

Cathay Cargo has witnessed an example of this, with one of its cooltainer suppliers, Envirotainer, joining the Corporate SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) Programme.

“By joining Cathay Pacific’s Corporate SAF Programme, Envirotainer is supporting one of the most scalable solutions available today to reduce the carbon intensity of air freight,” says Envirotainer President APAC Kuntal Baveja. “Sustainability is a shared industry challenge, and driving meaningful progress at scale depends on collaboration across airlines, logistics providers, and pharma.”

Expertise and proactive intervention in action

Technology and brand are important, but people and proactive intervention remain Cathay Cargo’s differentiators. Earlier this year, the team in France was handling a large pharma shipment of 24 active cooltainers destined for Japan.

One container was set to 5°C but was reading 8°C. With a control panel that could only be accessed by the shipper, nothing could be done until Monday, by which point the contents would be ruined. But the team managed to contact the handling agent, obtain urgent approvals to break the seal and moved the cargo to a cool room.

They pushed the supplier for replacement packaging for Monday, and for another that had visual damage; new containers arrived on Monday by 6am. The team then rebuilt the two units and secured uplift, reaching Japan only 24 hours late. “Our team turned a potential shipment failure into a powerful demonstration of trust,” says Regional Head of Cargo, Europe, Anand Yedery.

That commitment remains at the heart of Cathay Pharma. “This is why Cathay Cargo for us is always a reliable option, and why we have been global partners for many years,” concludes Lee.