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Pharmaceutical warehousing

Streamlining clinical trial supply chains is the key to success. Optimizing logistics and mitigating risks during pharmaceutical warehousing is essential to ensure the timely delivery of supplies
Pharmaceutical warehousing

What is pharmaceutical warehousing?

Pharmaceutical warehousing involves the storage, management, and distribution of pharmaceutical products. It ensures proper handling, temperature control, security, and timely delivery while adhering to stringent regulatory standards to maintain product integrity.
 
A pharmaceutical warehouse is specifically designed to store various pharmaceutical products — such as medications and vaccines — in compliance with regulations. These facilities maintain controlled environments with specific temperature ranges to preserve the efficacy and safety of stored items. 
 
Pharmaceutical warehouses employ inventory management systems and follow good distribution practices (GDP) to track, manage, and distribute pharmaceuticals accurately and efficiently. Timely and accurate deliveries from pharmaceutical warehouse storage are crucial to maintaining supply chain integrity and ensuring medications reach patients and healthcare facilities in optimal condition.

The challenges of pharmaceutical warehousing

Pharmaceutical warehousing comes with its own set of significant challenges. These are vital for keeping medical products safe and maintaining their quality. The challenges include:

  • Strict compliance — Pharmaceutical warehouses must adhere to stringent regulatory requirements, including good distribution practice (GDP) and good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards. This demands thorough documentation and quality control processes.
  • Temperature control — Maintaining specific temperature ranges is vital for preserving the efficacy and safety of pharmaceuticals, posing a challenge due to the sensitivity of many medical products to temperature variations.
  • Logistical challenges — Managing inventory, handling complex supply chains, and ensuring timely deliveries to many destinations worldwide create logistical complexities.
  • Security and safety — Pharmaceutical warehouses require robust security measures to ensure valuable and sensitive products are protected against theft, contamination, or mishandling.

It is essential to streamline warehouse operations to ensure swift distribution, reducing lead times and potential delays in delivering critical medications to patients. In addition, having a team with specialized knowledge in temperature-controlled logistics and compliance is crucial in reducing risk and ensuring the safe storage and distribution of pharmaceuticals. Overall, well-organized and maintained warehouses for pharmaceutical products guarantee the reliability and integrity of stored medical products. 

World Courier pharmaceutical warehousing

World Courier’s pharmaceutical storage solutions offer controlled environments and specialized infrastructure to ensure the safe storage and distribution of temperature-sensitive medical products.
World Courier protects your investment

Protecting your investment

World Courier protects your investment
Our reputation as the most trusted specialist healthcare logistics company in the world extends beyond safe and timely transport. We protect your product at every stage of the product life cycle. Our 22 GxP-compliant depots extend your global reach for the pharmaceutical storage and distribution of both clinical trial materials and commercial products.
World Courier protects your investment
World Courier pharmaceutical warehouses enhance operational efficiency

Trust beyond transport

World Courier pharmaceutical warehouses enhance operational efficiency
Our pharmaceutical warehouses enhance operational efficiency. We can help you meet demanding regulatory requirements. With proven processes for product safety, our fully GxP-compliant facilities are purpose-built to protect your investments. This includes redundant security measures and comprehensive SOPs.
 
World Courier pharmaceutical warehouses enhance operational efficiency

Bespoke commercial storage solutions

Secure your business continuity with sourcing and manufacturing logistics solutions from World Courier. With increasingly tight temperature control requirements, partnering with the right logistics provider is critical for an on-time market launch.   
Bespoke commercial storage solutions

Optimizing your supply chain


No other specialty logistics company in the world can match our experienced personnel, network of global offices and in-market expertise that ensure the optimal handling, transport and delivery of your products. We exceed expectations by offering premium services as standard practices, including redundant checking of each received shipment, redundant security mechanisms in preparing and shipping procedure and same-day or next-day deliver to all intra-country locations.

Our pharma warehouse infrastructure is unmatched and built for purpose:

  • Separate storage lockers for every protocol, released drugs, quarantined drugs, returned and recalled drugs 
  • Open pallet storage (select locations) 
  • Validated storage for: Controlled ambient (+15°C to +25°C), Refrigerated (+2°C to +8°C), Frozen (-20°C) on demand, Deep frozen (-70°C) on demand, Liquid nitrogen (-196°C) on demand 
CTM-STAR is our proprietary inventory management and control system

Real-time inventory visibility

CTM-STAR is our proprietary inventory management and control system
CTM-STAR is our proprietary inventory management and control system. It ensures all materials arriving or exiting our 22 global depot locations are fully traceable. 

Remote access is available anywhere in the world for real-time visibility into stocks per protocol, per depot, distribution to sites — all at your fingertips.

CTM-STAR is CFR 21 part 11 compliant, as part of our commitment to high quality management standards.
CTM-STAR is our proprietary inventory management and control system

Explore our virtual depot

Your treatments must be secured within a specialized warehouse for pharmaceutical products, but what benefits do you get from collaborating with a first-in-class provider?

Take a virtual tour of our depot to see how your product is protected from inception to commercialization. Click below to find out more.
Explore World Courier virtual depot
World Courier supports your clinical trials

Supporting your clinical trial 

We have a global network and a single point of contact for onboarding new studies and setting up work instructions. There is a full chain of custody through:

  • Bulk shipments
  • Pharmaceutical warehouse storage
  • Depot-to-site distribution with bundled solutions (including packaging)

We offer flexibility in our operations including labeling and just-in-time customization, and comparator and ancillary sourcing in select countries. 

Our depots offer a range of additional support services for clinical trials. We have established guidelines for the reception, storage, distribution, and destruction of Biosafety Level (BSL) 1 and 2 organisms.

Our archiving service supports thousands of trials and billions of data pieces, allowing trial administrators long-term access to secure records. We offer a variety of labeling services to satisfy local regulatory requirements. Finally, our destruction services follow local regulations in each country and provide documentation to be archived with details of what has been destroyed.

Logistics solutions for specialty commercial products 


Our depot network supports your specialty product commercialization in emerging markets. We create a seamless platform from clinical to commercial across the globe.

By understanding your commercialization goals we strive to maximize return on investment. This is through mitigating unexpected costs through the highest quality in the market.

Our pharmaceutical warehousing offering is up to any challenge. From serialization to rigorous temperature storage conditions including liquid nitrogen solutions, we can help. Through a fully standardized model, you can reduce vendor management costs. We then take care of onboarding locations for each project.

You get the same world-class solution in any location thanks to our truly global standard procedures.

Our supply chain expertise achieves an agile distribution model that ensures your product is delivered in full compliance with local regulations. Access integrated solutions from across Cencora, including commercialization solutions in the U.S. and Canada.

 

Why World Courier?

Global LN2 charging capability

50+
countries with dedicated teams on the ground 
4000+
team members
120+
company-owned facilities globally

World Courier is dedicated to attention to detail in medical logistics, from pharmaceutical storage to delivery to patients. We have specialized expertise in navigating the intricacies of transporting sensitive medical cargo.

This underscores our commitment to ensuring adherence to pharmaceutical warehousing requirements and the secure, timely delivery of products within specific temperature ranges. Our unique strength lies in our global network, enabling seamless collaboration with diverse organizations worldwide.

Our ability to work with various entities reflects a versatile approach that meets the distinct logistical needs of different regions, making us a trusted partner for complex international operations in the healthcare sector.

Our pharmaceutical delivery credentials

We prioritize quality and go beyond compliance to optimize our pharmaceutical warehousing. Our teams ensure regulatory compliance and mitigate risks through training and communication. By engaging stakeholders on a shipment-by-shipment basis, we deliver quality that exceeds minimum requirements. Trust us for security and compliance throughout your cold chain storage and distribution journey.

Other international guidelines we adhere to:

  • GDP compliant
  • National and State Board of Pharmacy licensed (where applicable)
  • WHO good Distribution practices for pharmaceutical products, TRS No. 957 Annex 5
  • EU Guidelines on good distribution practice of medicinal products for human use (2013/C 343/01)
  • USP <1079> Good Storage and Shipping Practices for Drug Products, US Pharmacopeia
  • Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 21 Part 11 compliant

Pharmaceutical warehousing insights

Explore these case studies to grasp the pivotal role of innovative logistics solutions in revolutionizing the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry landscape.
Rainbow-Abstract

Insight

Essential guide to cell and gene therapy (CGT)  commercialization


AmerisourceBergen
April 2024

Insight

Strengthening partnerships: Considerations for setting up robust specialty commercial drug supply chains

Christopher Engel
World Courier
April 2024

How to place a medical delivery with World Courier

 At World Courier, we've simplified the shipping process to provide you with a seamless and efficient experience. Our user-friendly system is designed for your convenience, making it easier than ever to manage your orders.

From the initial order placement to tracking your shipments, every step is designed with you in mind. With our easy-to-download forms and direct email communication, you're always in control of your shipping needs. Plus, our customer portal provides a comprehensive platform where you can manage addresses, set alerts, upload documents and more.

 

Medical logistics FAQs

What are the requirements for a pharma warehouse?

A pharma warehouse must meet regulatory requirements including temperature-controlled storage, security measures, and adherence to GMP guidelines for product safety and quality. World Courier's facilities meet all pharmaceutical warehousing requirements, ensuring safe and compliant storage.

What is warehousing in pharmaceuticals?

Pharmaceutical warehousing involves storing and managing medications in controlled environments. It includes temperature monitoring, security measures, and efficient inventory management. World Courier excels in these areas, ensuring the integrity of your products.

Why is warehousing so important to pharmaceuticals?

Warehousing ensures safe storage and timely distribution of medications, supporting patient access to treatments. It involves temperature-controlled storage, meticulous inventory management, and stringent security protocols. World Courier provides specialized expertise in these aspects of pharmaceutical warehouse storage.

Speak to an expert now

However complex your warehousing requirements are, World Courier can help
Speak to a World Courier expert now