Managing CGT Couriers

There are now a growing number of specialist CGT Couriers and therapy developers are increasingly working with multiple suppliers to improve flexibility

It is commonly acknowledged that the global response to COVID-19 caused major disruption to logistics networks across the world but it doesn’t take something as serious or as long term to impact courier services. Things from minor, local issues of availability, systems issues and weather though to the larger incidents that can impact specific routes or services. The nature of the tight timelines and other constrictions such as low temperature shipping that impact much of the Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) supply chain mean that supply chain management must incorporate the flexibility to react to non-standard shipping routes or providers to ensure that therapies get where they need to be in the right time and condition.

It is not uncommon for a therapy supply chain to have different shipping requirements depending on the part of the process and the cells being shipped. There may be a difference between how starting materials and finished product are handled, or there may be more than one type of starting material that need to be handled according to different specifications. All of this can be configured into the system to ensure that only suitable methods of transit are available to users when they are booking shipments.

OCELLOS has been built to assist with courier management and can be used to book, cancel and track shipments, either via direct integration or through manually input records. The system can ensure that all required information is sent over and will monitor and record changes in the chain of custody as well as tracking chain if identity through multiple supply chain partners.

The system will monitor the progression through the therapy journey and any issues or delays that may cause key deadlines to be missed and flag these to the stakeholders along the process to ensure that action can be taken to keep the journey on track. OCELLOS can even help with internal processes such as keeping multiple accounts with the same courier separate and matching specific healthcare sites with manufacturing or apheresis services where necessary, in order to help make processes easier for staff members operating them and less open to error.

Having supported hundreds of advanced therapy shipments over the last years, our integration specialists and customer service team are always on hand to answer your questions.

Next Week: Bespoke User Roles