Sept 15, 2016: North Carolina-based clinical trial logistics company, Marken has signed an exclusive agreement with supply chain and logistics company, Jeena & Company for a combined worldwide network of services for the pharma industry. In addition, the India office of Marken located in Mumbai (Andheri) has moved to a newer and larger office facility. The new office in Andheri was inaugurated by Wesley P Wheeler, CEO, Marken on September 14. Other dignitaries present during the opening were Michael Culme-Seymour, Vice President, Asia Pacific Region, Marken; Leslie Chaney, Sr. Director Commercial Operations, Asia Pacific; Naresh Goundar, Regional Operations Manager, Marken and Chandan Chaturvedi, General Manager - India, Marken.
Speaking about the developments, Wesley P Wheeler, CEO, Marken, said, “I am excited to open our new office in Mumbai which is needed to accommodate a large increase in client demand over the past 24 months. Marken is proud to be a global logistics partner who not only understands but actively anticipates the needs of our clients, responding with service, efficiency and innovation. We have built a very strong global logistics network specifically designed to meet and exceed the quality requirements of the pharmaceutical industry and so we are proud to align with Jeena in India who has also built a solid reputation serving the life sciences sector. We look forward to meeting the needs of clients together as India forges ahead with their growth and impact around the world.”
Sam Katgara, Partner, Jeena & Company, stated, “We are proud to partner with Marken. We believe this integration is a perfect fit for customers who require pharmaceutical supply chain solutions. The partnership and integration between Jeena and Marken combines two powerful service providers that offer customers tailor-made solutions after understanding their requirements. With Marken’s extensive global presence and Jeena’s domestic reach, we know that customers will benefit from our comprehensive end to end pharma supply chain solutions in India.”
Talking about the potential of Indian market, Wheeler, said, “I have been in the pharmaceutical industry for over 30 years and have watched the growth of the Indian industry since early days. India is supplying a large percent of drug substances and drug products to the US and Europe as well. India, Germany and Japan are three major growth markets for Marken. We also plan to build a depot in India. Currently, 75 percent of volumes in India is drug outbound shipments. We have very high expectations to sell more of our product and services in drug outbound.”
Culme-Seymour added, “India has tripled in volumes in the past 24 months and according to the forecast the growth will continue to double in the next 12 months. Although in terms of global presence India is still a relatively smaller market but is one of the fastest growing markets for our company. We have made a significant investment in the Indian market.”
Jeena will act as Marken’s exclusive third party sales agent in the India territory and will engage in continued, active promotion of Marken to enable new clients to access Marken’s global network and tracking systems for shipments to and from destinations in over 150 countries. Marken has agreed to utilize Jeena’s logistics network within India for new business generated by this collaboration. The agreement allows both companies to leverage each other’s assets and expertise.
Marken’s new location in Mumbai has a cold chain warehouse space that will not only allow the company to serve an expanding client base but will also serve as home to a new 24/7/365 Global Control Center. The Control Center will initially monitor all shipments moving into and out of the Asia Pacific region but will ultimately provide a global service to all Marken regions across the globe. The Center will transmit data through its proprietary Maestro operating system backed by the Marken Sentry tracking device, providing real time coverage of shipment location and temperature. The other Marken locations in India: Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, and Delhi will operate as supporting cold chain hubs to facilitate movement of products within the country.