Pharma Supply Chains Prepare for Industry's Biggest Security Challenge

Pharmaceutical supply chains are about to face their biggest security challenge for a generation as the world prepares for life-changing deliveries of Covid vaccines, says the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA).

An estimated 7 to 19 billion doses of the vaccine will be required to eradicate COVID-19 globally, enabling 60-70% of the global population to gain immunity and to stop the virus from spreading.

Thorsten Neumann, President & CEO of TAPA’s Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region said: "In terms of cargo security, the true cost of loss of a pharma cargo has been estimated to be between 5-7x the value of the product because of the domino-effect it creates."

“In terms of world health, the Covid vaccine represents the biggest supply chain security challenge of our generation because so much is expected from both a public health and economic perspective.

"It is no coincidence that on the day we saw an announcement about successful vaccine trials, European stock markets soared by 7%, so there’s so much at stake for both the pharma industry and its logistics service providers.

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“With a black market controlled by supply and demand, Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) will be very aware of the value of doses of the vaccine and are highly likely to be looking for ways to intercept supply chains to steal shipments, especially with such high volumes being distributed within a short timescale."

With large-scale vaccine deliveries expected to begin as early as January, the focus of all supply chain security stakeholders will be to avoid any disruption to the delivery process and to protect the integrity of vaccines on their way to patients.

TAPA members involved in vaccine distribution can use the Association’s cargo crime intelligence tools and industry standards to effectively support their in-house supply chain security programmes.

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