[CONTENU PARTENAIRE] In the field of logistics, that dedicated to the life sciences and in particular to research and clinical trials represents a highly regulated niche market. CRYOPDP offers tailor-made domestic and international transport solutions for temperature-sensitive shipments. Cédric Picaud, President and CEO of CRYO PDP answers our questions.
Can you introduce CRYOPDP ?
Launched in 2015, CRYOPDP offers international transport solutions for the clinical trial and niche therapy sectors, such as cell and gene therapies. We mainly work with pharmaceutical laboratories, but also ETIs and SMEs such as certain biotechs, in France and in Europe. CRYOPDP also works with many service providers in the pharmaceutical industry, for example for the manufacture of drugs or the distribution of experimental treatments, encompassing all the necessary logistics. Today, our 300 employees are spread over 13 countries and 3 continents. We operate in more than 140 countries in the world thanks to our various sites in Europe (England, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Germany) in the United States, in Asia (India, Singapore, Philippines, Japan, South Korea) and Australia.
This niche market is highly regulated. What are the main constraints to be respected?
Today, CRYOPDP transports experimental drugs around the world, under controlled temperature. The different temperature ranges that we cover are also subject to various constraints depending on the country and the season and the type of product transported. For example, the means deployed in winter in Moscow will not be the same in India during the summer. It is therefore essential to constantly adapt to the demands of our customers and to always be rigorous.
Do you have any other specifics?
CRYOPDP can also take care of the repatriation of the biological samples taken, whatever the geography, to the central laboratories of our customers. We are also required to intervene regularly, for certain clinical studies, by delivering directly to the patients’ homes. For this, we have a special service that manages these logistical aspects and guarantees the confidentiality of patient information. In general, the clinical research sector and niche therapies are particularly sensitive. Our customers demand logistics and operational performance close to 100%. The tasks entrusted to us necessarily involve a patient either awaiting a treatment or a result, so any error is unthinkable.
What are the challenges of your market?
The main challenge remains to ensure global coverage of our services. Today, our customers are major players either in the field of clinical research or in the field of cell and gene therapies. However, clinical research tests are very often carried out on the scale of several continents. We must be present everywhere with a quality of service and efficient processes in order to respond to the study protocols entrusted to us.
A l’instar other sectors of activity, are you encountering difficulties in terms of recruitment?
We find it difficult to hire qualified specialists in our sector of activity, particularly in Europe and the USA. We are looking for two types of profiles: supply chain experts from the pharmaceutical industry and the life sciences industry, and logisticians qualified to operate internationally, with in-depth knowledge of customs regulations and the type of very particular samples that we transport. This shortage is explained, in part, by the lack of training in our sector. To remedy this, we often recruit motivated juniors whom we train. We also place great emphasis on the internal promotion of our talents.
What are the trends in your market?
The clinical trials market is constantly growing around the world, in particular because research is progressing. It’s good news. In addition, the scope of clinical research is expanding and encompassing new technologies such as Messenger RNA, for example. Over the past ten years, we have also seen the development of studies on rare and orphan diseases.
Clinical trials are increasingly taking place in emerging countries, towards populations that react positively to experimental treatments. This involves more complex logistics, since we operate in new and sometimes difficult geographies, such as Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Finally, the presence of biological elements in experimental treatments is also increasing. However, these are sensitive elements in terms of temperatures. CRYOPDP thus offers a wide range of solutions under temperature to meet these new requirements, ranging from cryogenics for certain therapies to so-called controlled ambient temperatures.
Has the Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on your business?
It had major consequences! At the very beginning of the pandemic, when countries closed their borders and air flights were suspended, it was necessary to find other ways to deliver biological samples and experimental treatments. The CRYOPDP teams were able to react quickly and efficiently in order to reinvent our operational model overnight. We turned to road transport or dedicated air means. Years of supply chain experience and systematic implementation of business continuity plans (BCP) to ensure delivery and service to patients, have enabled us during this crisis to maintain 100% of our operations, all over the world, without any interruption.
The other consequence of the crisis has to do with customer demands themselves, which have diversified. CRYOPDP has been heavily involved in clinical studies on research around Covid-19. We have also been asked to massively ship exceptional treatments, antivirals and antibiotics, to various countries.
This content was produced with SCRIBEO. The BFMBUSINESS editorial staff did not participate in the production of this content.
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