New pharmaceutical freight links highlight the need for effective temperature monitoring

Humidity and temperature data loggers have many uses in the pharmaceutical industry, but the latest piece of news will see their effectiveness reach new heights – literally.

Qatar Airways has announced its freight operation will expand at the end of January, opening up new links for the pharmaceutical industry. The so called ‘Pharma Express’ – the first of its kind in the aviation industry – will link two crucial cities with the Middle East and the rest of the world.

Brussels and Basel are cities known for their pharmaceutical output, and this latest announcement will see Swiss and Belgian medical products made more widely available across the globe.

An Airbus A330 air freighter will fly twice a week from Doha to the two cities, picking up much needed medical supplies before flying back and distributing them from the jets home in Qatar.

Keeping the temperature of pharmaceutical products consistent in transit is a key challenge for the industry, which Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo Ulrich Ogiermann identified as one of the main reasons for this new service to commence operations.

“The pharmaceutical industry is witnessing rapid growth each year, and with the rising demand there is the need to ensure that pharmaceuticals and healthcare products are transported with the utmost care while avoiding any temperature fluctuations,” he stated in a January 14 media release.

Technology is a key driver in the industry, and things will be no different when the ‘Pharma Express’ takes to the skies.

“By investing in sophisticated technology and a team of highly qualified staff, Qatar Airways Cargo can now offer healthcare companies and their logistic partners a state-of-the-art service for shipping temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals all over the world, while maintaining the integrity and quality of their products throughout the supply chain,” Mr Ogiermann went on to explain.

In January 2014, Qatar Airways launched QR Pharma, which had more than a glancing eye on finding the right solutions to make this latest announcement a reality. Two systems of temperature controlled freight were piloted by that company.

Firstly, there is an active system using temperature controlled containers which maintain a constant reading throughout the shipping process. Secondly, there’s a passive solution which keeps the transported goods within a specific temperature band.

Accurate readings of both temperature and humidity can be absolutely crucial in the pharmaceutical industry and finding the right data logger is a must. The testo 184 H1 is the ideal device to keep track of those two metrics for anyone in the logistics industry, thanks to a 500 day battery life and memory for up to 64,000 measurement values.