Agility, a leading global logistics provider, has opened a Pharmaceutical Competence Centre in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The dedicated facility will offer pharma companies world-class solutions and industry know-how in pharmaceutical and life sciences logistics, the company said.

The Agility Pharmaceutical Competence Center is managed by Agility experts trained in the benchmark Good Distribution Practice (GDP) standards developed by the World Health Organisation and European Union. Strict adherence to GDP standards ensures the integrity of pharmaceutical products during the entire distribution process, including the procurement, purchasing, storage, distribution, transportation, repackaging, relabeling, documentation and record-keeping stages.

Brazil is in the midst of major economic and healthcare reforms, making it vital for pharmaceutical companies to minimise risk to product integrity and reduce their operating costs. Agility’s Sao Paulo Pharmaceutical Competence Centre is “specially structured to meet the needs of Brazil’s pharma sector,” said Mohammed Esa, senior VP for global business development at Agility Global Integrated Logistics.

“It offers world-class expertise in development of temperature-controlled supply chains that ensure product integrity every step of the way. These companies know how important it is to establish procedures that are compliant with GDP standards and with ever-changing local, national and international regulations,” said Esa.

Agility operates Pharmaceutical Competence Centres in Basel, Dubai and Mumbai, as well as a network of specialised pharma offices across Europe. The new centre in Brazil “offers expertise in swift, efficient customs clearance. Pharma customers will have the peace of mind knowing that all government requirements for their shipments have been met and that administrative cost and effort on their part will be reduced to a minimum,” said Ricardo Sapag, CEO of Brazil at Agility Global Integrated Logistics.

Agility is a leading provider of pharmaceutical and life sciences logistics services, designing integrated supply chains for every step of the product life cycle. Agility works with pharmaceutical companies from the earliest stages of R&D through clinical trials, product launch, marketing and sales of patented drugs, and development and launch of generics