Beyond the
Cold Chain.

Thank you, Manbeena, for having me. When we talk about cold chain logistics today, we are talking about a completely different discipline compared to ten or fifteen years ago. Historically, cold chain was primarily about maintaining standard temperature bands — typically 2 to 8 degrees Celsius — for vaccines or traditional biologics over predictable transport routes.

Today, specialty healthcare logistics deals with cryogenic temperatures down to −150 degrees Celsius, autologous cell therapies where every single shipment is custom-manufactured for one individual patient, and clinical trials spanning complex multi-country geographies. In this environment, a temperature excursion or a delay isn't just a financial loss — it can mean a patient misses a critical, non-repeatable treatment window. So specialty logistics is no longer a commodity service; it is an integrated clinical partner.

Asia Pacific is perhaps the most dynamic yet fragmented market in the world. You have highly advanced infrastructure in markets like Singapore, Japan, and Australia, juxtaposed with emerging markets across Southeast Asia and South Asia where customs processes and cold chain infrastructure vary widely.

The key challenge is cross-border regulatory synchronization and route reliability. Moving a temperature-sensitive shipment from a manufacturing plant in Europe or North America to a clinical site in Asia involves navigating multiple regulatory bodies, customs clearance protocols, and micro-climates. Having a local physical presence, dedicated customs experts on the ground, and pre-cleared regulatory pathways is essential to ensure zero delays at borders.

This connects closely to my previous point. Advanced therapies are changing every single day and becoming more and more sophisticated. The success rate of targeted, personalised therapies is so much higher than the traditional pharmaceutical approach. Often these therapies are made with the patient's own cells, which makes them irreplaceable. If we lose them, or if the patient passes away, that is a catastrophe. With cell and gene therapies you are connected to a single patient, and there is one opportunity to get it right. That requires end-to-end identity, chain of custody, temperature control, and precise coordination on timings.

Radiopharma is another area growing quickly, and there the timelines are incredibly short. Transporting isotopes, and the samples related to treatment, leaves even less time than traditional medicine, with the added complexity of handling radioactive material. At World Courier we have been investing heavily in infrastructure, training, and regulatory compliance so that we can handle these new therapies in our key markets. It is not just training but innovation. Every shipment carrying these personalised therapies is tracked, with real-time monitoring, proactive planning, and always a backup plan. Imagine a personalised therapy travelling from Europe to Asia via the Middle East, and the Middle East enters conflict overnight and airports close. We have to be ready to reroute those shipments at the last minute so that there are no delays.

We have been doing this for a number of years, and every year we learn. Technology keeps improving: in packaging, in visibility, and in real-time monitoring. But the first thing is process. We test and try each process until we get it right, because 99 per cent is not good enough.

Secondly, it is our people. They are well trained and genuinely engaged, and they understand the importance of every shipment. We teach them to imagine that it could be their own relative, because when they think that way they take even more care to make sure these therapies and treatments are delivered on time.

Thirdly, we have to have a backup plan. Nothing happens exactly according to plan in this world. There are always last-minute surprises: aircraft offloads, delays, weather, and the growing uncertainty that climate change brings. We have to be prepared and always have a contingency plan, and that is how we reach an almost zero-error environment in our business.

The technology we are using right now is real-time monitoring of both location and temperature. These are small devices we send inside the shipment that track not only GPS location but also temperature. The advantage is that we can be proactive. If a shipment goes off track, is loaded onto the wrong aircraft, or is lost, we can locate it. If the temperature begins to rise, we can take action to save the product.

Secondly, we link that technology with AI. By analysing our historical shipment movements, and we are talking about many thousands of shipments every day, we can ask AI for the best possible route between, say, New York and Kinshasa in the Congo. It returns several proven routes, ranked from most to least optimal, citing risks such as weather, offloads, strikes, and conflict. Combining our own data with predictive AI lets us make the best possible routing choice.

Thirdly, it is important that we tie all of this data into an ecosystem that links our customers. Customers should no longer have to send an email or make a call to ask where their shipment is. The information we hold feeds directly into their systems, so they can plan accordingly and have full visibility of where their therapies are.

We are fortunate to operate in one of the fastest-developing regions in the world. China remains, and will likely remain, incredibly important, strengthening its position in biopharmaceutical innovation and manufacturing, and Chinese companies are also investing in other countries, particularly the United States. India remains a global leader in pharmaceutical production; almost 30 per cent of the world's vaccines come out of India. Traditionally India was very strong in generics, and that role is changing. We are seeing more innovation there, particularly in advanced therapies such as cell and gene. If India can drive the cost of cell and gene therapy down, that will be a huge advantage for the patients who need it.

Other markets such as South Korea, Japan, and Singapore are driving innovation in small biotech, precision, and regenerative medicine. But Asia is not only a manufacturing centre. It is becoming an increasingly important destination for clinical trials. For much of the last 20 years, trials were focused on the West, and that is now changing. There is a huge amount of domestic clinical trial activity in China, running at roughly three to one against international trials, and other markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam are opening up as companies look for new patient recruitment. Overall, we are in the right place for this industry.

For us, patient safety is paramount. We cannot compromise on it, so we will not move to reusable packaging if we know it introduces a risk to the therapies we carry. Having said that, we are testing and using far more reusable packaging. In Australia, led by client demand, we have stopped using single-use dry ice boxes and switched to reusable ones, saving hundreds of thousands of boxes from being destroyed and reducing both our carbon footprint and our clients'. We are also increasing the share of electric vehicles in our fleet, particularly in countries where that is possible.

We are always looking for ways to bring therapies closer to patients. World Courier operates a number of depots around the world, and we encourage clients, instead of shipping direct from their factories to each country, to hold supplies in regional hubs from which we can distribute, cutting down on single lanes. Sustainability, much like technology, advances every year, with more and more alternatives available, certainly in packaging. Our industry's challenge is not to choose between sustainability and reliability, because they go hand in hand. It is to drive the innovation that achieves both.

You might be surprised by this, but I believe the rise of personalised therapies will only continue, because the success rate is so high. As that success rate rises and innovation drives the cost base down, these therapies will become more affordable. I recently read that the Australian government has agreed to approve CAR-T treatment, at a cost of almost 200,000 dollars, where other therapies have failed. So we now have governments stepping in to assist.

That means that by 2030 a great deal of the supply chain will be personalised, running directly between the manufacturing centres and the patients. Some of that is happening already, but by 2030 it will account for a far greater share of our work, rather than going via hospitals and then being redistributed. As personalised therapies increase, the personalised supply chain has to match them. That may include delivering directly to patients' homes and collecting from patients' homes in line with nursing networks, which is something World Courier is already doing.

I wish more people understood that specialty logistics is not just a support function. It is a critical enabler of getting lifesaving therapies to patients. These therapies are complex, highly time-sensitive, and often involve coordination across pharmaceutical companies, laboratories, treatment centres, and logistics providers. While responsiveness is always important, the greatest success comes from partnering early and planning ahead.

When logistics are involved at the beginning of the therapy journey, we can help design a supply chain that is more reliable, more efficient, and better suited to patient needs. At the same time, we know healthcare does not always operate on a predictable timeline, and we are built to respond quickly and flexibly when last-minute needs arise.

The most innovative therapy in the world is useless if we cannot get it to the right patient, at the right time, in the right condition. So we are very much part of the solution. Behind every successful clinical trial, every advanced therapy, and every life-saving treatment is the supply chain that completes the circle. We make sure our teams around the world know how important it is that, every time they touch that package, whether virtually or in their own hands, they are making a real difference to patients every day.