Building A Global Cell And Gene Supply Chain Serving Personalized Medicine

By Ariette van Strien, Marken

Cell and gene therapies continue to change how we look at curing diseases, and they are increasingly administered at the patient’s home. Further, different therapeutic indications are emerging for cell and gene therapies outside of oncology. The more treatments are developed for rare diseases, the more early access or compassionate use programs will expand, and the more urgent shipment will be required.

Accordingly, the orchestration of supply chain logistics and consideration of the associated challenges are critical to cell and gene therapy trials even before site initiation. To precisely control all aspects of the supply chain, orchestration can take place from a central hub and can be aided by artificial intelligence. Still, the shipping operation cannot be run in a normal network. It should be entrusted to “logistics architects” or “logistics artists”: people with years of industry experience who — in the event of obstructions along the planned supply chain — can seamlessly switch to a contingency plan that ensures on-time delivery.

Toward this end, Marken UPS operates a worldwide system of “control towers” where people monitor, nonstop, any elements that may affect (or are currently affecting) shipping in their area of responsibility: the weather, the package’s current location, destination, indoor and outdoor temperatures, flight delays, airport traffic, etc. We also have has refined our standard operating procedures and quality processes over years of serving our clients, leading to a continuous cycle of training and planning. Moreover, Marken leverages safe, dependable technologies to support a robust supply chain.