Kool-ex partners with IndoSpace to build 3 temp-controlled pharma warehouses by 2021

September 23, 2020: The pharma cold chain logistics service provider Kool-ex has partnered with the industrial and logistics real estate developer IndoSpace to build customized, GDP/GWP compliant, temperature-controlled, Pharma Distribution Centres across the country.

Kool-ex and IndoSpace will jointly design and set up three warehouses in the first phase by 2021 in proximity to Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. At 42,000 pallet positions in each warehouse, each of these warehouses will be the largest standalone cold chain facility in the country.  Kool-ex has plans to set-up 10-11 warehouses by 2023 making it the largest pharma storage footprint in the country.

Entering into end-to-end pharma logistics
The cold chain player with a reefer fleet of 350 vehicles also plans to become a full-stack, end to end supply chain solutions provider to the pharma industry by providing warehousing, secondary distribution, passive packaging, and blockchain for an end to end traceability, apart from its core existing business of providing temperature-controlled transportation.

Kool-ex is also in advanced talks with investors to raise growth capital for these initiatives and has appointed KPMG in India for financial advisors to the process.

Rahul Agarwal, director, Kool-ex Warehousing, said, “We aspire to become the largest dedicated player in the pharma warehousing space offering over 10-11 GDP/GWP compliant, multi-client, pharma distribution centres over the next three years. With a unique combination of primary and secondary distribution, warehousing, passive packaging and blockchain, we are moving towards the ambition of becoming the preferred full stack supply chain solutions partner to pharma industry. Our focus continues on offering high-quality integrated solutions as well as flexibility in adapting to the pharma industry’s specific requirements with a pay-per-use model. There is a huge opportunity to consolidate and optimize the distribution network to reduce logistics costs. We are building these solutions taking into consideration the expected growth and consolidation in pharma, and are leveraging our years of knowledge, capabilities of our dedicated teams and guidance of seasoned pharma advisors. We are also augmenting our resources to capitalize on these growth opportunities.”

Also read: Time for pharma cold chain to commit for quality, temp integrity over costs

Warehousing facilities
These warehouses will enable consolidation in fragmented Pharma distribution, efficiency in operations, reduction in inventory, reduced handling losses, compliance & cost optimization, besides complete visibility in the chain. Furthermore, these will be certified Green Warehouses with 100% solar back up. Kool-ex was advised by CREDBERG Advisors in forging this partnership with IndoSpace.

Agarwal further added that “IndoSpace, with their pan-India network, echoed our vision of creating first-of-its-kind, world-class pharma storage in India. These units will be equipped with a modern, state-of-the-art temperature controlling system that will ensure the safety of sensitive cargo based on Good Distribution Practice (GDP) and Good Warehousing Practice (GWP).”

Rajesh Jaggi, vice chairman - real estate, Everstone Group, said, “The amalgamation of IndoSpace’s warehousing expertise along with Kool-Ex’s cold chain logistics ecosystem will help in building the state- of-the-art infrastructure to support the growing needs of cold chain pharma warehousing and distribution in India. ”

Passive packaging solutions
Kool-ex is also set to offer complete Pharma passive packaging solutions - in partnership with TESSOL, a cold chain solutions provider - to design and supply passive cooling boxes for intercity & Intra city movement of sensitive time bound, temp-controlled medicines such as vaccines, insulins etc. These boxes will have a different insulation technology based on phase change material instead of the currently used EPS (THERMOCOL). These boxes will need much lower charging (cooling) time of 8 hours, against the current 48-72 hours, and will enable multiple uses, coupled with features such as live track & trace.

Rajat Gupta, CEO, TESSOL said, “The current crisis ruling our world is one of the biggest challenges in history and the pharmaceutical industry is trying to create a vaccine that will need to be given to billions of people across the globe. TESSOL and Kool-ex have picked the gauntlet and together have engineered product solutions for pharmaceutical distribution that are world-beating, setting new global benchmarks. We are offering an “Atmanirbhar” solution that guarantees temperature compliance and traceability of Pharma products until the last point of delivery, hence ensuring the efficacy of the medicine. The solution aims at simplifying the whole process of pharma packaging & distribution, adding technology to ensure the end to end traceability.”

Kunal Agarwal, Director, Kool-ex Warehousing further added, “We are providing a highly scalable, environmentally sustainable, regulatory compliant & technology-driven solution for secondary and last-mile distribution of temperature-controlled pharmaceutical products like biologics and vaccines including the much-awaited COVID-19 vaccines.” 

Blockchain to fight counterfeit medicines
In India, there is a significant menace of counterfeit medicines, and to enable pharma companies to control this, Kool-ex is in advanced talks with one of India’s largest IT majors to jointly design and develop Blockchain for pharma, enabling access to barcoded medicine packs which can be then tracked and traced in real-time across the distribution chain till it reaches the patient's hand.