Delphine Perridy, Chief Commercial Officer at Envirotainer explores six essential predictions shaping pharmaceutical logistics and cold chain for the year ahead.
The pharmaceutical cold chain is becoming a cornerstone of global supply chains, shaped by new regulations, innovation, and the need for resilience.
This year, the industry witnessed remarkable innovations across the broader pharmaceutical distribution landscape. One standout development was the rapid growth of direct-to-patient logistics. Pharmaceutical companies have made strides in delivering treatments directly to patients’ homes. These advancements not only enhance patient access but also reflect a wider trend towards personalised, patient-centric supply chains.
Hard on the heels of a year shaped by innovation, sustainability, and security, 2025 now promises the pharmaceutical industry even greater transformation.
Strengthening supply chain resilience
Over this past year, global tensions and geopolitical conflicts have created ongoing logistical disruptions and bottlenecks. These challenges can vary from port closures to sanctions or trade restrictions, all of which impact delivery efficiency and cost. Such issues expose vulnerabilities in the pharmaceutical supply chain, leading to significant delays or, in worse cases, spoiled or cancelled shipments.
In response, companies in 2025 will need to diversify logistics strategies and focus on working with partners who are able to quickly adapt in response to changing circumstances or risks in the supply chain. Cold chain solutions will also evolve, with a growing emphasis on redundancy and alternative routes to avoid disruptions and support the reliable delivery of critical medicines.
Elevating sustainability standards
Following on from COP29, the call for sustainable practices in pharmaceutical delivery is louder than ever. This summit marked a pivotal moment, as countries are now urged to integrate health considerations into their Nationally Determined Contributions, which will significantly impact the pharmaceutical industry.
This increased pressure will lead pharmaceutical companies to evaluate and adapt their ESG requirements, making sustainability a non-negotiable factor for suppliers. Building on this expectation, advanced cold chain providers are shifting their focus from merely avoiding waste to finding the most sustainable way to distribute essential medicines. This includes both reusable equipment and optimised single-use solutions that are lighter, use fewer raw materials, or are biodegradable, enabling effective resource use even when disposability is necessary.
As environmental awareness continues to grow, sustainability standards across the industry will continue to rise. The next step for the industry is to review and address supply chain emissions, which are often the hardest to reduce. Companies can achieve this independently, but submitting emissions targets to the Science Based Targets initiative provides a public demonstration of their commitment to taking meaningful action.
Expanding into emerging markets
Despite global tensions and geopolitical conflicts, the pharmaceutical industry is increasingly expanding its reach into underserved markets – and this reach will continue to grow next year. This push is essential for bringing critical medicines to new communities, yet logistics and storage infrastructure in these regions can create additional complications.
Cold chain logistics rely on stable, temperature-controlled environments to protect sensitive medicines. However, outdated infrastructure in emerging markets often means smaller storage spaces, unreliable electrical supplies, and no return logistics for reusable packaging. These factors make it problematic for cold chain providers to maintain the necessary conditions consistently.
To overcome these challenges, market expansion will require specialised packaging and logistics solutions that address local infrastructure limitations. These adaptations will be key to enabling successful market entry and supporting long-term growth.
Rising mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships
We have witnessed an increase in merger and acquisition activity in the pharmaceutical industry in 2024, and we expect to see this continue to rise in 2025. Pharmaceutical companies are also increasing their strategic partnerships with CMOs and CDMOs to accelerate innovation and reduce time-to-market. By pooling resources and expertise, companies will be able to streamline the R&D process, paving the way for faster production and delivery of high-demand drugs.
The beneficial outcomes will be set to multiply if companies integrate cold chain logistics into these new partnerships. Not only will this support the rapid scale-up of new therapies, but it will also help build a robust supply chain for new markets.
Adapting to small-batch shipments
As the demand for smaller, high-value pharmaceutical shipments grow, cold chain logistics will need to become more agile and adaptable to meet these evolving needs. These solutions are essential to ensure highly sensitive medicines, such as personalised treatments, are stored and transported under precise temperature-controlled conditions.
Additionally, AI-driven clinical trials are accelerating drug development, leading to faster production cycles that also require efficient, responsive cold chain solutions to handle smaller but high-value, sensitive shipments.
Finally, the growing prevalence of decentralised clinical trials adds to the demand for robust cold chain logistics. These trials, which involve direct delivery of experimental therapies to patients’ homes, rely on precision cold chain networks to maintain the integrity of highly sensitive medicines.
Optimising pharmaceutical logistics cold chain with technology
The potential of AI will extend beyond R&D to supply chain management next year. Organisations will begin to use the technology to minimise risk, reduce costs and boost efficiency. Cold chain providers can learn from tech giants like Amazon and Alibaba, who use AI and data-driven insights to improve logistics and access to treatments. While their focus isn’t exclusively on the cold chain, their innovations may offer valuable ideas for delivering sensitive medicines more efficiently.
Finally, blockchain’s potential to increase supply chain transparency through decentralised, immutable records makes it a key technology to watch. Deloitte’s case studies already demonstrate its practical application in ensuring product integrity, underscoring the importance of blockchain in advancing pharmaceutical logistics.
2024 has seen steady progress in pharmaceutical logistics, with innovations continuing to shape the future. As we move into 2025, the focus will be on smarter packaging, agile supply routes, and solutions that address the growing complexity of global healthcare demands. The year ahead holds significant opportunities for companies willing to adapt, collaborate, and lead the charge in delivering medicines to underserved communities, improving availability, and saving lives.
