Marken expands in Russia to support growing demand

30-Jul-2018 - Last updated on 31-Jul-2018 at 15:03 GMT

(image: Getty/jirsak)

Marken has opened a new customer solutions center at its Moscow depot and will announce additional service offerings in the coming weeks.

The supply chain organization and UPS subsidiary also is now offering its hybrid services to and from Russia. The service will support shipments into Russia for drug storage and distribution as well as shipments from Russia for biologic samples.

Gerit Offenhauser, senior vice president, Global CTD Operations and EMEA Logistics, said the company's new customer solutions center and expanded services are a response to increased client demand and also "enable further expansion of our ability to serve the supply chain needs within Russia."

Marken will announce and launch another dedicated service offering in Russia within a few weeks, Offenhauser told us.

“Russia is an important country for clinical trials and to Marken’s client base," he added. "One of the major emerging markets, strong growth is expected to continue in Russia and particularly in the pharmaceutical sector."

Offenhauser said the company's hybrid services are unique in the clinical trials logistics market as they combine Marken’s services with the UPS network.

"Our local Moscow team, with members from the UPS Express team on site as well as our own logistics and depot staff, are co-located and offer our full suite of services to any investigator or pharmaceutical client," he explained.

Russia is a growing source of patients for clinical trials. A 2017 statistic states that roughly 100 overseas pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies conducted multinational clinical trials in Russia, half of which involved contract research organizations (CROs). 27,000 patients were enrolled in these trials.

There are 1,400 clinical centers and 3,900 investigators currently accredited by Russian authorities.