
OUR LIFE SCIENCES & HEALTHCARE EXPERTISE
Solving Your Industry Challenges
Our track record and dedicated industry experts give DHL an unrivalled pedigree across the life sciences and healthcare industries, helping us to provide specialist, high quality solutions, whatever your business.
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Keeping pace with the ever-changing global regulatory environment is a constant challenge as country and regional requirements are continually shifting. With our Global Quality Assurance group of over 100 experts driving operational consistency and governance, we’re always up-to-date with the latest changes in local and international regulations. Our global network provides highly controlled environments and we ensure full GxP (Good Practice) compliance from origin to destination.
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We understand that replacing even one case of critical, high value products is no easy task, which is why we’ve developed disciplined temperature control procedures to protect these valuable items. We store and transport medical and pharmaceutical supplies at temperatures that include deep frozen, chilled and controlled ambient. Additionally, we’ve placed packaging and shipment preparation areas within controlled environments and we use innovative packaging materials to ensure temperatures are maintained throughout the chain of custody.
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We help you achieve high standards on health, safety and security through extensive training and timely monitoring. We offer consulting on global safety regulations and conduct regular inspections and process audits at all of our facilities.

Clinical Trial Logistics
Fifteen years of experience in managing the logistics that are essential to successful clinical trials.
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The key to a successful trial is ensuring all products arrive at the right time in the right condition in order to drive safety and efficacy for the patient. We understand these concerns are at the top of your list, which is why we’ve integrated our protective services with track and trace capabilities to ensure your patients receive the correct product, when needed.
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To help improve decision making, reduce costs and ensure studies are not impacted by lack of product availability or traceability, DHL offers full visibility of inventory and activities throughout the supply chain.
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With the majority of trials now being conducted on a global basis, our worldwide network solution of 20 depots can support your needs at both the global and regional level. To help facilitate the entire process, we can manage the outbound distribution of clinical supplies and the inbound flow of returns, including network design, study management and managed transport.

Hospital Logistics
We support health services and hospitals in the strategic design of their supply chain to deliver transformational improvements.
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Hospitals should be focused on patients’ needs, and not on the added congestion of numerous product deliveries throughout the day. Our off-site consolidation centers reduce both hospital traffic and the number of inbound deliveries, as well as enable direct-to-ward and operating room deliveries. Additional benefits can be achieved by consolidating purchasing, facilitating larger order quantities and standardizing products.
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Your staff needs to remain focused on your core business of patient care. DHL can help make them more efficient by providing a range of on-site services, including hospital storage area design and management and internal distribution of medical devices and instruments.
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Optimizing inventory levels is a never-ending challenge. Our Materials & Inventory Management tools can provide you with the insight to efficiently manage stock of medical devices, pharmaceuticals and consumables. Initial data gathering identifies focus areas and facilitates the smooth implementation of specialist software and collection methods that drive down inventory levels, obsolescence and product loss. We also identify appropriate storage locations to improve visibility and control and minimize potential for damage.

Pharmaceuticals
We have deep experience in products that are challenging to distribute, such as vaccines and biologics, and are able to meet the challenges of seasonal supply, pandemic planning and temperature monitoring across the globe.
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Counterfeiting of products is a growing problem, intensified by the rise of online commerce. The need to ensure a safe and genuine product has led to a number of companies re-evaluating supply chain processes to prove e-pedigree. DHL can help by supplying direct-to-pharmacies or by providing additional labeling, in order to comply with national serialization legislation.
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The pharmaceutical industry continues to see an increase in mergers and acquisitions as companies look to boost product pipelines, acquire much needed expertise in areas such as biotechnology, and access new revenue streams such as generics. We can help merging companies integrate their supply chain approaches in the most efficient and least disruptive manner so cost and efficiency savings can be realized.
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Pharma manufacturers require flexibility and cost effective solutions for storage and distribution. By operating both dedicated warehouses and best-in-class shared user warehouses in key geographies worldwide, DHL is able to provide the flexibility you need to meet changing demand.
Medical Devices
We understand and support the logistics requirements of a diverse range of products, from implantable devices to diagnostic agents.
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Customer feedback can help drive stock rotation, track usage and enable earlier billing. To support this process, DHL provides consignment stock management, based on field-based teams visiting locations to track inventory. We also have systems and operations in place to ensure you meet regulatory requirements, utilizing a unique identification number and batch tracking visibility tools.
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Not all medical device products should move through the same supply chain. Consumables and capital intensive products, such as MRI machines, need to be handled differently. We work to create the perfect network and service design that delivers against your current and projected business and meets your specific product requirements.
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Manufacturers must respond quickly to customer and country product demands. To help increase this responsiveness, DHL operates a worldwide network of GMP facilities that provide a range of value-added services. These include packaging services and kitting that not only ensure products have the correct specification for the market, but also enable postponement or late customization. In addition, we undertake serialization or labeling, as well as the assembly of medical device kits.
Life Sciences & Healthcare Insights
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