Managing Risk And Minimizing The Complexity Of Your Global Single-Use Supply Chain

By Timothy Korwan, Director of New Product Development and Commercialization, Avantor

With the rapid growth of single-use systems (SUS) for drug production, especially by drug manufacturers with multiple locations across the globe, there are many risks associated with underestimating the regulatory compliance, manufacturing and quality requirements of these systems. For example, using SUS introduces new logistics challenges that, if not properly understood and planned for, can leave biopharma manufacturers vulnerable to supply chain complexities.

To minimize these risks, biopharma manufacturers can benefit by adopting a global single-use supply chain strategy early in the drug development life cycle and carefully evaluating their chosen single-use equipment and materials suppliers. When reviewing a prospective supplier, there are two primary considerations for biopharma manufacturers to keep in mind: the regulatory and quality compliance and the supply chain operational excellence of the supplier.