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When Disaster Strikes

January 24, 2025

Natural disasters are an unfortunate reality, so it’s crucial for biopharma organizations to establish strong contingency plans. Storage expert Mike D’Avanzo offers best practices and findings from an exclusive Alcami survey on outsourced pharma storage and risk mitigation in When Disaster Strikes in the respected publication The Medicine Maker.

Natural and man-made disasters are increasing in intensity. In the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, ensuring product integrity and availability is non-negotiable. Materials such as vaccines, biologics, cell banks, and other sensitive products require precisely managed storage conditions – because even a brief disruption to the supply chain can have significant consequences. 

In a recent Alcami study, many pharma researchers and drug developers expressed little to no interest in outsourced storage, with just two percent seeking an immediate solution within the next 3-6 months. However, this finding was in contrast with another part of the survey, where the top three most important reasons for seeking outsourced storage were cited as: “additional space, regulatory expertise, and assistance with emergency situations.”

There is an awareness of the need to plan for emergencies by seeking outsourced storage solutions and regulatory expertise, but many companies are not prioritizing or are only in the preliminary stages of considering backup or alternative options.

This disconnect can lead to a potentially dangerous situation, as disasters, by nature, arrive unannounced. For example, hospital systems across the US recently experienced an unprecedented shortage of IV fluid supplies when the sole manufacturing facility making 60 percent of the national supply was taken offline by massive, hurricane-induced flooding.

So, where do you start? How do you plan for the unforeseen? Mike D’Avanzo, Associate Director, Pharma Storage, at Alcami, discusses the challenges.

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