DHL GLOBAL FORWARDING’S LIFE SCIENCES AND HEALTHCARE FACILITY IN SRI LANKA RECEIVES GOOD DISTRIBUTION PRACTICES CERTIFICATION

The certification ensures the highest quality standards in the distribution of pharmaceutical products in compliance with the World Health Organization’s guidelines .

DHL Global Forwarding, the freight specialist arm of Deutsche Post DHL Group, is awarded the Good Distribution Practices (GDP) certification for its 15,000 square feet life sciences and healthcare (LSH) facility in Peliyagoda, Sri Lanka. The certification attests to DHL Global Forwarding’s consistent quality management systems throughout the entire supply chain, and meets the stringent safety and security standards by the World Health Organization for pharmaceutical products.

“The pharmaceutical market in Sri Lanka is expected to grow rapidly, reaching a value of LKR141.8bn (USD625mm), posting a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.6% in local currency terms, according to Fitch Solutions,” said Niki Frank, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding South Asia. “We are honored to support this growth by providing the life sciences and healthcare sector with the top-tier infrastructure to service the burgeoning domestic demand for pharmaceutical goods and establish Sri Lanka as leaders in drug safety and availability on the world stage.”

"Being certified with Good Distribution Practices gives our customers and pharma companies, the assurance that product risk is minimized at every point of the storage and distribution process, according to WHO standards. This will dramatically improve how drug manufacturers in Sri Lanka prepare their products to go to market, as they can deliver high product volumes in less time and with greater confidence, ” Fabian Rybka, Cluster Head Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan at DHL Global Forwarding said.

Strategically located in Peliyagoda, DHL Global Forwarding opened its LSH facility in 2017. Peliyagoda is the Airport Expressway’s entry point, which links the capital, Colombo, with the Bandaranaike international Airport. DHL Global Forwarding’s 15,000 square feet facility was designed to ensure world-class product safety and accessibility for Sri Lanka’s drug manufacturers and importers. The temperature-controlled warehouse includes a cold room chilled to 2-8 °C, and offers Sri Lankan pharmaceutical companies a highly controlled environment for storing and distributing medicines.