DHL Express this month launched a healthcare product cold chain facility and refrigerated delivery vans in Lagos. The investment targets shipments of drugs, vaccines, and insulin preparations, according to a local press report.
The cold chain improvements complement unrelated efforts in the country to halt runaway drug counterfeiting. Anti-counterfeiting technology company Sproxil launched a service in February, in which consumers verify drug authenticity via the texting of a security code, with a Merck diabetes drug.
The cold chain has been getting a lot of attention lately, as we've reported. A recent survey projects that seven of the top 10 drugs in 2014 will require cold-chain handling. In another survey, doctors say they fear that cold chain breaches are affecting drug efficacy. Meanwhile, UK regulators have expressed concern over temperature and humidity excursions during shipment and storage.
- here's the Nigeria report