Due to the growing demand for biopharmaceuticals, logistics providers have brought changes in the ways things were done before. Today, temperature-controlled transportation has become necessary, and the increased need for vaccines, biologics, and cell therapies has made cold chain shipment necessary. To keep up with the changing pharmaceutical landscape, the following trends are expected to be seen in biopharma logistics in the next five years:

1.   Temperature Sensitive Drugs Transportation

With gene and cell therapies increasing in demand, the need for advanced transportation and storage solutions is also growing. The introduction of temperature-sensitive drugs in the market calls for appropriate transportation where the temperature is monitored properly. Temperature degrades some proteins and other biological molecules rendering the drug ineffective. Therefore, cold chain monitoring solutions are desperately needed. Government initiatives have made it possible for third-party logistics to take over some burden of supply-demand in recent years, and that forecasts further development in transportation.

2.   Competitive Landscape

The competitive landscape of pharmaceutical companies will only become more vigorous with many companies introducing safer and more efficient supply chains along with cloud-based supply chain solutions. The big and small players alike are consolidating their roots by incorporating new and modern technologies which only makes the competitive curve more acute.

3.   Major Restraints

The major restraint to the rapidly growing pharmaceutical market is high operational costs. Cold chain logistics also require a large amount of electricity on a daily basis, and power shortages are another factor inhibiting the speed of growth. Continuous efforts are needed to overcome these restraints and keep the growth curve acute.

4.   Growth Opportunity

Upcoming new technologies and increased demand for personalized medicines provide opportunities for the stakeholders to take their companies to the next level by playing it right. Technologies like data mining, mobile cloud, time analytics, and blockchain can help in creating better app interfaces and cloud infrastructure, which will provide better growth opportunities.

5.   Reliance On AI

The labor shortages and changes in hiring methods in recent years have increased the dependence of big industries on artificial intelligence. The dependence on automation will only increase in the coming years. Automation and AI are already playing important roles in pharmaceutical supply chains. The past has taught us that the human workforce can be fragile. So, there are strong chances that in the coming year big companies will evaluate the necessity of human labor requirements and chip away at extra hands which can be replaced by AI.

6.   TeleSolutions Are Here To Stay

Pharmaceutical sales representatives struggled to meet with physicians in person to discuss various drug products and how patients can benefit from them. Covid-19 made it imperative to have these discussions for the benefit of public and digital solutions. Speculations say, that digital solutions are here to stay and they will only get better. Telesolutions will also help with the staff shortages for the companies that adopted it earlier and in a proactive way. Online platforms help the staff and patients both. Serving yourself is in demand these days and big companies are working on auto inventory and auto release processes for efficiency.