Pharma.Aero is to focus on projects amongst its members to improve services including a shippers advisory group and a validation programme.
The organisation was founded by Miami International Airport and Brussels Airport as a platform to foster strong collaboration amongst members including airport communities, pharma shippers and other pharma logistics stakeholders.
Five projects are being launched: A Pharma.Aero Shippers Advisory Group; an IATA CEIV Pharma shippers validation; an airside transport benchmark; certified pharma lanes & identification of performance indexes and dashboard; and an IATA CEIV Pharma maturity assessment.
The shippers advisory group aims to improve collaboration amongst all pharma stakeholders, ensuring Pharma.Aero stays ahead of industry trends and addresses issues that shippers encounter, with Johnson & Johnson, MSD, Pfizer and Brussels Airport participating.
For the shippers validation, Brussels Airport cargo & product development manager, Nathan de Valck explains: “The project group will work with pharmaceutical shippers to validate and endorse the existing IATA CEIV Pharma checklist and audit methodology, resulting in a shipper-endorsed audit format, reducing audit workload and streamlining the audit process by the shippers.”
Johnson & Johnson, MSD and Pfizer will participate in this project with Brussels Airport assuming the coordinating role.
Describing the airside transport benchmark, Miami International Airport section chief for aviation marketing, Jimmy Nares says: “The project group will come up with a framework for airports and their stakeholders to consider when reviewing airside transport solutions. It will also review all options and solutions that exist to avoid the exposure of pharmaceutical shipments to extreme temperatures while transported on tarmac.”
Brinks, Brussels Airport, Changi Airport Group, Envirotainer, Expeditors, MSD, Mumbai International Airport, Pfizer and Sharjah Airport will participate, with Miami taking the lead as project coordinator.
Pfizer transportation manager, Eddy Weygaerts says the goal of the project is to establish pharma trade lanes involving CEIV pharma certified operators, explaining: “The project group will also identify common KPIs during the process when the pharmaceutical shipment is being transported from airport to airport, and it will explore technologies to house the KPIs in the form of dashboards.”
Pfizer and Changi will take the lead, with Brussels Airlines Cargo, Brussels Airport, DHL Global Forwarding, Envirotainer, Expeditors, EuroAirport Basel, Johnson & Johnson, MSD, MVD Free Airport and Singapore Airlines participating.
The CEIV maturity assessment will work to improve the programme, ensuring the relevancy of the checklist, and will be launched in the coming months.