Challenge

A global specialty pharmaceutical company contacted Marken’s team in Singapore late one night needing logistics assistance with an urgent clinical shipment. The company needed to ship a dose of an antifungal drug to a patient in Islamabad, Pakistan suffering with a life-threatening hematologic disease.

At the time, the drug was unavailable in Pakistan and only obtainable from a manufacturer in Charlotte, North Carolina. With no direct flight from the United States to Pakistan, the patient was running out of time and Marken’s team in APAC jumped into action to formulate a supply chain solution.

Solution

Marken immediately contacted counterparts in the United States to organize, complete and submit all export paperwork, clearing the shipment of any regulatory hurdles. To ensure optimal timing and conditioning was met, the shipment would travel from Charlotte, to Dubai and then to its final destination in Pakistan. Marken coordinated with the airlines and communicated that the shipment was a priority compared to other cargo on the aircraft.

Despite a tight timeframe of only half an hour to switch airplanes in Dubai, Marken’s team worked around the clock with ground handlers and airport personnel to perform a last in, first out manner for a seamless tail-to-tail transfer in transit to Pakistan.

Throughout the journey, Marken’s Global Control Center (GCC) was involved in tracking the precious shipment and managing communication updates for all parties involved around the world.

Outcome

Marken’s comprehensive strategy and management enabled the shipment to successfully be delivered to Islamabad within 30 hours. Teams on the ground in Pakistan delivered the drug to the doctor, which was immediately brought to the hospital where the patient was waiting. As a result, the patient’s life was prolonged by the drug.

When faced with critical timelines, life science companies around the world turn to Marken. Most importantly, we ensure the integrity of sensitive drug products during transport and are perfectly positioned to deliver your shipments safely and securely.

About Marken

Marken is a wholly owned subsidiary of UPS and is a critical part of UPS Healthcare. With Polar Speed and Marken included, the UPS Healthcare division staffs 128 locations with 5,500 employees worldwide. 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.