Blue Dart to offer supply chain solutions for vaccine transportation

News Clip: Business Standard

6th October, 2020

Logistics services provider Blue Dart on Tuesday said it will offer a complete supply chain solution for the life sciences and clinical trials sector and reefer vehicles (cold chain) services, to ensure seamless transport of shipments like vaccines.

The firm, which is a part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL), has capability to handle various temperature requirements.

As the development of the COVID-19 vaccine leapfrogs across development phases, stringent temperature requirements (up to - 80C) will be a critical factor for its transportation and warehousing at every stage, Blue Dart said in a release.

Stating that an efficient and specialized logistics network will be a prerequisite, to ensure safe and rapid delivery of billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses for mass immunization, and other temperature sensitive pharma products on a national and global scale, the company said, "It is ramping up its infrastructure with its pre-existing specialised Temperature Controlled Logistics (TCL) to combat the pandemic".

The company said it has successfully tailored its existing TCL solution to transport critical shipments such as vaccines, medical samples and more, adding that its TCL teams work with three industry specific segments--clinical research organisation, vaccine/testing kit manufacturers and active pharma Ingredient for delivery of shipments.

"The right partnerships are vital to secure critical medical supplies during health emergencies. We are actively working with various pharmaceutical organizations that are conducting clinical trials to produce a COVID-19 vaccine in India in their pre and post production journey," said Ketan Kulkarni CMO & Head Business Development, Blue Dart.

With an agile response team overseeing the upscaling of the current capabilities, strong fleet of dedicated Boeing 757 aircraft and robust infrastructure for TCL solutions, Blue Dart is capable and prepared to meet any immediate large-scale demand, he added.