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'Multi-node supply chains' are the future, in a 'multi-polar pharma world'

China, India, and the Middle East are all playing their role in shifting the geographical centre of production and innovation, the three regions emerging as particularly important to the global pharmaceutical supply chain Frank van Gelder, secretary general of Pharma.Aero, said a fracturing of the supply chain with a more geographically diffuse network of production, healthcare providers, and clinical centres could create new opportunities for airfreight and specialist logistics providers. "China is no longer only a major source of pharmaceutical ingredients and manufacturing capacity; it is becoming an increasingly important centre for biotechnology, clinical development, and innovative medicines," he told The Loadstar. "India remains essential to generics and manufacturing, while expanding its innovative capabilities; Europe and North America remain central, but innovation and production are becoming more geographically distributed. While Europe and North America would remain important pharma centres, he said the emergence of additional innovation and production hubs was creating what he called a "multi-polar pharmaceutical world". For logistics providers, "that means multi-node supply chains - interconnected manufacturing sites, clinical centres, specialised logistics hubs, and healthcare delivery points, rather than dependence on a few dominant origins and gateways", Mr van Gelder explained. "For air cargo this opens opportunities for new regional gateways and specialised corridors, but it also demands much better network orchestration," he added. However, he cautioned that nodes must be "qualified, connected, interoperable, and economically justified". That meant those considering it needed to be able to distinguish between diversification and "expensive duplication", he said, noting:"More nodes do not automatically mean greater resilience, more tonnage, or better profitability." And he warned that the emergence of regional gateways and specialised corridors would place greater demands on the ability of logistics operators to coordinate, given the increased complexity in these international networks. The requirement for temperature-controlled infrastructure, qualified handling facilities, and reliable connections between different supply chain participants was particularly important as pharmaceutical products become more specialised, he added. Mr van Gelder said: "The most profound change comes with advanced therapies. In autologous cell therapy, a patient's cells can be collected, transported for manufacturing, and returned as a personalised treatment. "Chain of identity, chain of custody, time, temperature, and clinical scheduling become inseparable. A disruption can affect a treatment appointment. Radioligand therapies introduce another set of highly time-sensitive, product-specific constraints," he said. However, Mr van Gelder cautioned against assuming the emergence of new pharmaceutical production centres or growth in innovative medicines would automatically translate into greater airfreight volumes.

Forwarders need to be specialists to make pharma work

SME forwarders looking to enter pharmaceutical logistics should avoid competing directly with multinationals and instead focus on building specialist capabilities, says Pharma.Aero secretary general Frank van Gelder. Rising demand from clinical trials and time-critical healthcare shipments, together with the emergence of advanced therapies, is creating opportunities for SMEs, but Mr van Gelder said operators must demonstrate the requisite expertise, systems quality and dependability. He told The Loadstar: "SME forwarders should become indispensable specialists. The opportunities are in clinical trials, time-critical healthcare, advanced therapies, specialised regional corridors and high-touch services around research centres and hospitals. "An SME can combine local knowledge, quick decision-making and trusted international partners. Emerging connections with Chinese and Indian innovation ecosystems can create further possibilities, provided operators build real expertise rather than simply market a new lane." But he warned forwarders off entering the pharma market simply because of the prospect of attractive margins. GDP compliance, qualified personnel, validated procedures, and temperature-control competence were needed to form the foundations of any operation. Going further, he noted certification alone was not demonstrative of an understanding of the requirements of different pharmaceutical products, with conventional medicines, clinical trial shipments, and personalised therapies presenting a fundamentally divergent set of challenges. Mr van Gelder added: "Agility without discipline is not resilience, it is risk. The winning combination is systems, specialist knowledge, human adaptability, and trusted partnerships. Collaboration is essential because no one company controls the full patient-critical chain. "The future is not necessarily about who owns the biggest network, it is about who can orchestrate the most reliable one. Do not compete on price alone. Compete on expertise, reliability, flexibility, and trust." This, he added, included an ability to respond to disruption, which offered SMEs a way to distinguish themselves. Mr van Gelder argued that experienced and empowered teams could sometimes adapt faster than larger organisations with slower governance structures. Workforce resilience, he said, meant giving employees the confidence and authority to raise concerns and act when contingency plans no longer worked. "Resilience is not created by a contingency plan. It is created by people who can act when that plan no longer works,"

Natilus cargo aircraft wings build project gets underway

US aerospace manufacturer Natilus has commissioned Composites Universal Group to build wings for the full-scale prototype of its 3.8-ton Kona optionally autonomous feeder cargo aircraft. Composites Universal Group has established a streamlined tooling process to reduce costs and expedite the build timeline, with delivery anticipated in spring 2027, said Natilus. KONA's wing relies on a conventional layout with spars and ribs. Rather than aluminium wings, Composites Universal Group will use carbon fibre, which offers several benefits such as reduced corrosion rates and fatigue resistance over time. Additionally, it requires fewer parts and fasteners to join the wing, minimising the need for individual riveted panels and thousands of drilled holes. The construction of the wings will be based on the production of traditional tube-and-wing builds of the Beechcraft King Air series of aircraft at Textron Aviation alongside other certified aircraft within the cargo market. The wing will incorporate FAA-standard aerospace materials and will use a cable and pulley system for flight controls. The wings will be 'dry' meaning they won't contain fuel tanks that would introduce additional complexity. "Natilus is pushing the envelope by designing an aircraft that offers impressive reductions in fuel consumption and operational costs, but our disciplined approach and vast expertise in building next-gen aircraft - from eVTOLs to unmanned systems - makes us a strong partner for this endeavour," said Steve Ruege, co-founder, president and chief executive of Composites Universal Group. Once on site at Natilus's San Diego hangar, the wings will undergo coupon and bond joint testing and then limit load testing to validate the physics and ensure durability ahead of the full-scale demonstration flight. "KONA's blended wing may look different than any plane on the market today, but we are utilizing off-the-shelf technology for the wing build," said Aleksey Matyushev, chief executive of Natilus. "At Natilus, we are committed to building an aircraft that delivers on the quality standards that our freighter customers and the U.S. Air Force expect and require." As well as securing a wings manufacturer, Natilus has accrued substantial funding this year. Last month, Natilus secured $3.5m in research and development funding to accelerate the development of KONA toward full-scale flight testing. In February, Natilus also announced it had secured $28m in funding. Initial flight testing for the Kona subscale prototype began in 2023. In July last year, Natilus was awarded a US patent for its diamond-shaped cargo bay design to be incorporated in the Kona. In addition to the Kona UAV, Natilus is also developing Horizon, a 200-seat passenger plane that rivals Boeing's 737. Previously, Natilus had also planned to develop Alisio - a 60-ton payload medium/long range cargo aircraft, and Nordes - a 100-ton payload long-range cargo aircraft. Natilus now has more than 570 aircraft pre-orders valued at $24bn.