M&G Investments: Revolutionising pharma with temperature-controlled transportation

Image: SkyCell

At a Glance
Who: M&G Investments and SkyCell
What: Investment for temperature-controlled medicine transportation
Where: Swiss-based technology firm
Why: To enhance pharmaceutical supply chains
When: Ongoing expansion

The Challenge:

The global pharmaceutical industry faces a significant challenge of ensuring the safe and reliable transport of temperature-sensitive medicines. Annually, approximately $35bn worth of pharmaceutical products are lost due to temperature deviations, particularly concerning the rapid growth of temperature-sensitive medicines.

The Solution:

SkyCell offers specialised hybrid containers that protect pharmaceuticals from extreme temperatures, ensuring their viability upon reaching patients. These containers also reduce CO2 emissions by up to 50% compared to traditional cold chain solutions, minimising landfill waste.

How the Project Works:

SkyCell’s temperature-controlled containers are designed to safeguard medicines from both high and low temperatures, providing a stable environment for pharmaceutical products. Their proprietary software platform predicts and minimises the CO2 impact, optimises shipping routes for sustainability, and streamlines global shipments, reducing approval times from days to hours. This efficiency ensures important drugs reach customers promptly while minimising inventory and expenses for pharmaceutical clients.

The Results:

SkyCell’s innovative solutions are anticipated to save up to 50% of CO2 emissions compared to traditional cold chain containers. Research demonstrates that the cold chain is responsible for approximately 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when considering both direct and indirect effects.

Business Benefits:

M&G’s investment through Catalyst supports SkyCell’s international expansion and its commitment to environmentally responsible pharmaceutical supply chains. This partnership provides business benefits such as improved supply chain reliability, reduced CO2 emissions, and cost savings.

The initiative also aligns with M&G’s commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its investment portfolios as an asset owner and asset manager by 2050.

Investment/Savings:

While specific financial data about return on investment (ROI) is in unavailable, M&G Investments has committed $57m to supporting SkyCell’s innovative solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.

Industry Context:

In 2019, the pharmaceutical industry produced 48.55 C02 emissions for every $1m it generated – placing it above even the automotive industry in terms of contributing to global GHGs.

The global pharmaceutical industry faces pressing challenges in reducing CO2 impact and minimising landfill waste associated with disposable packaging.

SkyCell’s containers align with the industry’s shift toward more sustainable transportation solutions, ultimately contributing to ambitious net-zero targets and regulatory pressures to address these issues.

Additional Information:

Research demonstrating the carbon footprint and environmental impact of traditional cold chain containers:  Assessment of methods to reduce the energy consumption of food cold stores – ScienceDirect

Research demonstrating the global pharmaceutical industry’s carbon footprint and its environmental impact: Big Pharma emits more greenhouse gases than the automotive industry (theconversation.com)