Largest Ever Clinical Trials Cargo Shipped from Northern Ireland

January 29, 2008

29 Jan 2008. Cargo travels on specialist Boeing 747 plane chartered in Northern Ireland from Belfast International Airport

Almac Clinical Services largest ever supply of clinical trials material has landed in Manila, Philippines to be delivered to investigational institutions across the region. The shipment, which weighed some 65 tonnes, is Almac’s largest ever cargo shipment.

In order to meet the requirements of the trial, and the delivery of the product, it was necessary to charter a commercial freight Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet. Individually insulated pallets were packed to provide strictly controlled temperatures of between +10°C and +30°C during shipment as required for the product. Thanks to a good working relationship between the courier and airlines, the goods cleared customs smoothly. The trial supplies have been transported to a number of clinical trial locations across South Asia.

The preparation of patient supplies also utilized Almac’s automated label verification system, to check the 320,000 labels rapidly for production. Andrew Scott, Logistics Manager, Almac Clinical Services said:

“I am delighted with the success of this delivery and am confident that our extensive logistical efforts will ensure that the clinical trial materials reach as wide a population as possible.”

“The order also required a tremendous effort from the operational and project management teams within Almac Clinical Services. The labeling and packaging of the 45 tonnes of clinical material over 22 operations was scheduled at short notice and required huge flexibility in terms of man hours and effort required.”

“We could not have managed this large operation without the flexibility and dedication of our staff from across all of the departments within Clinical Services.  I am very thankful for their time and hard work in contributing to the successful delivery of supplies for this important clinical trial.”

About Almac

The Almac Group comprises five closely integrated divisions offering a broad range of services from R&D, translational genomic services, API manufacture, formulation development, clinical trial supply and technology (IVRS/EDC), to commercial-scale manufacture. Almac provides services to over 600 companies including all the world leaders in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. The company is headquartered in Craigavon, Northern Ireland. US operations are based in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and California.

 

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