Delivering pharmaceutical products to the designated market at right time and in right condition is the most critical task that any pharmaceutical company aims to accomplish. UPS has emerged as a prominent name in the complex supply chain domain of the biotech industry. It has established extensive warehousing and distribution capabilities to help biotech companies meet demands for time and temperature sensitive product deliveries.

In an interview with BioSpectrum Asia, Ms Lim Bee Koong, director, healthcare strategy, UPS Asia Pacific, Singapore, talks about the critical role that UPS is playing in reaching out to the ever expanding global market of pharmaceutical companies.

In the last one year, UPS has made significant expansion in Asian countries. What are the prime concerns while implementing the regulatory requirements in different countries?
UPS has been expanding its healthcare facilities in Asia. We are committed to grow our offerings to match our clients' requirements. With the opening of three new state-of-the-art facilities in Hangzhou and Shanghai in China, and in Sydney, Australia, during November 2012, the total number of dedicated healthcare facilities around the globe now tallies 36. These facilities are spread across more than half million square meters.

Throughout our years of experience of working with clients, and from our recent ‘Pain in the (Supply) Chain Survey', regulatory requirements have been earmarked as one-of-the-key constraints and worries of healthcare executives. In fact, 52 percent of global executives rank increasing regulations as their top business worry, and 65 percent rank regulatory compliance as their top supply chain concern. Our strategy has been built around the implementation of global standards such that we live up to the motto: ‘Drug quality sits at the heart of ensuring patient safety". This ‘gold standard' approach allows us to build our capabilities to be global-local, allowing our quality assurance team to constantly monitor progress throughout the partnership with our clients.

What are the initiatives you have taken for a safe shipment of temperature sensitive drugs such as biologics?
Companies in the pharmaceutical or biotech industries have always focused on solutions and technologies that allow them to monitor and track products in the supply chain 24/7 to ensure that they are maintained in their required temperature ranges, to minimize spoilage and other disruptions during transit.