Latin America News Q2 2018

14 LATIN AMERICA NEWS / Q2 2018 , Marken Announces Expanded Hybrid Services in Latin America Three airports inMexico and Buenos Aires Added to Company’s Unique Service Offerings. Marken is a wholly owned subsidiary of UPS. Marken is the only patient-centric supply chain organisation 100% dedicated to the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Marken maintains the leading position for Direct to Patient services and biological sample shipments and offers a state- of-the-art GMP-compliant depot network and logistic hubs in 47 locations worldwide for clinical trial material storage and distribution. On the 1st May 2018, Marken announced expanded hybrid clinical logistics services from Latin America to the United States. Nearly all of its biological shipments from Mexico City to destinations in the US are now shipped through UPS’s air network with excellent performance. Marken is expanding to offer similar services from Guadalajara (GDL), Monterey (MTY) and Buenos Aires (EZE) airports to all destinations in the US. Almost 50% of all biological samples in LATAM markets today originate in Mexico and Argentina. Marken’s hybrid clinical logistics services are in a test phase in several other LATAM cities and are expected to be available in the near future. Marken’s hybrid services are unique in the clinical trials logistics market because they combine Marken’s high-touch, customised services with the UPS network, which may include air cargo and UPS brokerage services. The unique combination of these services provides cost efficiency, high quality and flexibility and gives the company control of 100% of the supply chain from origin to destination. Hybrid services undergo rigorous lane testing in order to ensure compliance with local dangerous goods regulations, including governmental agency and customs regulations. Hybrid lanes are also tested to ensure they will meet the required 24-48 hour door-to-door transit time. All LATAM biological sample shipments are booked through the company’s proprietary Maestro operating system and monitored by its Miami control tower. Latin America is one of the world’s most important sources for clinical trial biologic samples, with an estimated 2,000 daily shipments from the region into laboratories in the United States. Marken is an industry leader, particularly in Latin America, and has a growing share of the clinical drug and biological sampling kit transportation market. The hybrid services offered by Marken with its UPS parent are unique in this market, and are first to provide biologic sample shipments on a non-commercial flight from Argentina to the US. Commenting on the news, Wes Wheeler, CEO of Marken said, “Adding Guadalajara, Monterey and Buenos Aires to our hybrid service offering is a major advance in our LATAM clinical portfolio. We are the first to load biological sample shipments onto an integrator flight from Buenos Aires (EZE) using the UPS airline, which then allows us to arrive at any US laboratory early the next morning. We are now moving forward with further testing in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru.”