To rapidly expand ultralow freezer (ULF) capacity despite an inadequate electrical grid, then implement an urgent national clinical vaccine distribution program.

In many places, the facilities and infrastructure for wide distribution of a vaccine that requires storage at -80˚C are not a given. In this case, challenges included:

• The storage facility only had two ULF; 62 were needed
• Despite a preexisting backup generator with 100% redundancy, the site required additional power for the increased capacity
• The new freezers needed to be qualified before use
• Increased security was necessary
• The vaccine had to be distributed nationwide
• Time was of the utmost essence

Through agility and innovation, the Marken team developed a unique and flexible storage, distribution and specialty logistics strategy to provide the solutions needed for the Ministry of Health. The engineering portion of the plan included facility expansion with an electrical infrastructure upgrade, while the expertise already in place at Marken ensured the proper handling of -80˚C storage, qualification, distribution and logistics.

The government awarded Marken the clinical vaccine distribution contract for the entire country. In eight weeks, Marken:

• Increased the ULF freezer count from 2 to 62
• Maintained best-in-class quality measures
• Worked with local authorities to secure power for the site from the national grid
• Heightened security, including closed-circuit television (CCTV) installation
• Deployed cold chain distribution of standard-size vaccine vial trays to local healthcare centers

Marken saved time, minimized cost and reduced risk for this client in a critical and urgent initiative.

With a high-quality, complete end-to-end solution, Marken initiated a nation’s clinical vaccination program in eight weeks. The government classified the depot as a national concern and placed Marken employees on the essential workers list to receive the first wave of vaccines.

Marken offers a state-of-the-art GMP-compliant depot network and logistic hubs for clinical drug product storage and distribution in 59 locations worldwide, while maintaining the leading position for Direct-to-Patient and Home Healthcare services, biological sample shipments and biological kit production. Marken’s dedicated 2,000+ staff members manage 154,000 drug product and biological sample shipments every month at all temperature ranges in more than 220 countries and territories and have orchestrated 14,000+ home healthcare visits. Additional services such as cell and gene supply chain services, ancillary material sourcing, storage and distribution, shipment lane verification and qualifications, as well as GDP, regulatory and compliance consultancy add to Marken’s unique position in the pharma and logistics industry.