Q&A: Shawn McGee on Building Resilience Across Pharma Supply Chains

Pharmaceutical supply chains operate with little room for error. From temperature-sensitive biologics to high-value specialty therapies, tighter delivery requirements and more complex logistics networks have made reliability and visibility essential. Understanding where vulnerabilities exist, and how to address them, is critical to protecting product integrity and patient access.

Ongoing disruptions have exposed the limits of traditional transportation models, pushing manufacturers and logistics providers toward more resilient strategies, including regional networks, specialized carriers, and stronger risk planning. At the same time, regulatory expectations are rising, with greater emphasis on end-to-end chain-of-custody control and consistent execution across the supply chain.

In the following Q&A, Shawn McGee, VP of National Accounts at A. Duie Pyle, shares insights on today’s key risks, including temperature excursions, visibility gaps, and final-mile complexity, and how the industry is adapting.

PC: Pharma supply chains have faced sustained pressure in recent years—where are the biggest vulnerabilities today when it comes to delivering critical pharma products?

McGee: The biggest vulnerabilities are no longer limited to a single handoff or mode. They are concentrated anywhere the supply chain becomes fragmented, especially at transfer points, during peak demand periods and at the final mile. In healthcare logistics, reliability breaks down fastest when sensitive freight moves through too many touchpoints, when appointment-driven deliveries into hospitals or care facilities are not planned precisely or when capacity tightens and shipments are forced into less specialized networks. From our perspective, the most resilient supply chains are the ones designed to reduce handling, maintain clear communication and build in flexibility for urgent requests, after-hours needs and site-specific delivery requirements. That is especially important when providers are shipping into dense, highly restricted markets where congestion, access limitations and delivery windows can quickly turn a routine move into a service risk. Pyle’s own healthcare experience reflects that reality: for one major healthcare customer, 61% of 10,535 annual shipments required special services, including priority handling, liftgate, inside delivery, appointment notification, freeze protection and other white glove accommodations.

Temperature excursions remain a persistent concern, particularly for specialty therapies. How widespread is this issue, and what are the real-world consequences when controls fail?

Temperature-related shipment issues remain a significant concern in healthcare logistics, particularly for products that cannot be exposed to freezing or extreme conditions during transit. When controls fail, the consequences can extend far beyond a delayed shipment. Products may need to be quarantined, replaced or discarded, creating additional cost and potentially disrupting patient care. That is why healthcare shippers increasingly rely on transportation partners with clear handling procedures, proactive communication and protective services in place during colder months. For many products, avoiding a temperature excursion is less about specialized refrigerated transportation and more about ensuring the shipment is protected consistently throughout the entire journey.

Regulatory scrutiny around chain-of-custody and compliance is increasing. Are current industry standards keeping pace with the complexity of modern healthcare logistics?

Industry standards are improving, but the complexity of modern healthcare logistics is advancing faster than many legacy processes were built to support. Good Distribution Practice frameworks and temperature-control guidance remain essential, but compliance today requires more than documenting conditions in transit. It increasingly demands end-to-end chain-of-custody discipline, stronger data integrity, better exception management and clearer accountability across multiple partners. That becomes even more difficult when providers rely on subcontracted shipment handling in congested metros or remote areas, where maintaining consistent chain-of-custody standards can be more challenging for pharmaceutical customers. In practice, the gap is often not the absence of standards. It is the inconsistency of execution across the full network. The providers best positioned for healthcare freight are the ones that combine compliance-minded processes with real operational control, responsive communication and shipment-level visibility that can stand up to audit scrutiny.

Visibility tools have improved, but gaps still exist. Where are logistics providers and manufacturers still trying to improve this across the supply chain?

The industry has made real progress on tracking and notifications, but visibility still tends to weaken at the moments that matter most: handoffs, exceptions and final-mile delivery into complex care environments. Many manufacturers want better predictive visibility. That includes earlier warning of delays, better insight into appointment-dependent deliveries and a clearer picture of what happened at the destination. In healthcare, that matters because a shipment is not truly successful just because it arrived to a zip code. It has to arrive on time, intact, with the right handling and documentation for the receiving facility. Pyle’s healthcare approach reflects the need for tighter coordination, including real-time notifications, customized reporting and daily communication with customer teams.

Recent geopolitical disruptions have exposed fragility in transportation networks, particularly in the Middle East. What lessons has the industry learned from navigating conflicts, and where is it still unprepared?

One major lesson is that resilience cannot depend on a single routing strategy or a just-in-time mindset without contingency options. Recent disruptions have shown how quickly transportation assumptions can break down when international shipping lanes, air capacity or key trade corridors become constrained. As a result, manufacturers and logistics providers are placing greater emphasis on diversified routing, earlier planning, stronger inventory positioning and closer coordination across the supply chain. It has also reinforced the value of nearshoring strategies and establishing inventory positions closer to the customer base. Lastly, it has reinforced the value of regional distribution models and transportation partners that can keep freight moving even when broader networks are under pressure.

There’s growing reliance on regional and specialized carriers. Is this a shift away from national networks, and what does that mean for risk, cost, and reliability?

Healthcare shippers are increasingly using regional and specialized providers where precision matters most, especially in dense delivery geographies and for deliveries that require services such as appointment scheduling, inside delivery, liftgate service, priority handling or freeze protection. That shift can improve reliability because it improves velocity, reduces handling, brings freight into networks with more direct operational control and pairs shipments with providers that understand the delivery realities of hospitals, nursing homes and similar sites. It can also lower hidden costs tied to service failures, claims and missed delivery windows. The tradeoff is that shippers need to manage partner selection carefully. Specialization only reduces risk if the provider truly has the equipment, processes, communication discipline and healthcare delivery experience to execute consistently. Pyle’s healthcare model is built around complete regional coverage, abundant quality capacity, specialized equipment, heated trailers, liftgate capability, white glove options, priority service, customized reporting and an industry-leading low claims ratio across its regional footprint.

Shawn McGee is the VP of National Accounts at A. Duie Pyle.