Frontier For Life Sciences

     Every once in a while, the right people find themselves in the right place at the right time and all of us can just marvel as the story unfolds, and as an industry we are eye witnesses to continuing and elevating possibilities.
     Take the case of Leandro Moreira, who is ramping up a dramatic effort whilst serving as President of Transportation at Frontier Scientific Solutions, launching the world’s first dedicated life science air route offering thrice weekly schedules linking Shannon, Ireland, with Wilmington, North Carolina.
     What is happening as you read this is: this is the first fully dedicated, temperature-controlled network of its kind; a nonstop, air route operational exclusively for the life sciences sector.
     Leandro explains all the bells and whistles of this complex and integrated offering like he is taking a walk in the park.
     “We are dedicated to the transport and storage of critical, life-saving materials – including finished medicines, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and medical devices.
     “Frontier’s dedicated B767F wide-body aircraft are the result of our partnership with Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), providing reliable wide‑body aircraft capacity for our life‑sciences‑only network, including real‑time, in‑flight temperature mapping and a specialized customer service team.
     “Our schedule of non-stop service provides guaranteed capacity with no co-mingling of general freight, ensuring product integrity through in-flight temperature mapping and continuous quality oversight.
     “Life Sciences air-and-ground network is engineered to minimize handoffs, shorten door-to-door delivery times, and maintain full GDP compliance – representing the first fully dedicated air transportation corridor purpose-built to mitigate risk and prevent temperature-related product losses.
      “By flying direct between SNN and ILM and integrating cGMP‑validated facilities with direct runway access, Life Sciences in addition to transparency reduces total handoffs and accelerates end‑to‑end movement compared with multi‑stop routings.”
     Frontier’s model is not only safer, but offers considerably less risk.
     “Since we utilize facilities built to minimize time on the tarmac and preserve the temperature integrity of life sciences products, these time critical consignments reach their destination faster, safer, and more securely – ultimately saving more lives.”
     Leandro Moreira is an easy going, totally professional transportation executive and as President of Transportation at Frontier Scientific Solutions, brings a distinguished international career in transportation and logistics that began in 1995.
     At American Airlines, Leandro spent more than 18 years in key management roles that among other things helped transform Miami International Airport into a series of giant reefers masquerading as air cargo buildings. Leo helped develop the first pharma hub in the Americas, setting new standards for life sciences transportation infrastructure.
     In 2014, he moved from the air at American, spending a half decade on the ground developing life sciences transportation as Managing Director Global Operations & Life Sciences for Brinks.
     At Brinks, which is known in the public mind for moving money in armored trucks, he launched and oversaw a successful new pharma division before joining Frontier Scientific Solutions, a dedicated global logistics integrator built exclusively for life sciences.
     “Our approach,” Leandro smiled, “in addition to being unique between USA and EU in moving vital Pharma, lowers the risk of temperature excursions and product damage while improving predictability for clinical and commercial shipments.  Everything we implement including FTZ status streamlines movement including customs processing.
     Life Sciences “temperature-controlled route between The United States and Europe,” Leandro declares, “strengthens the global life sciences supply chain by reducing touch points, minimizing risk, and ensuring products integrity – ultimately supporting our mission to protect patient safety and save lives.
     “We are building this key transportation route to serve billions of dollars of investment by major pharmaceutical companies in North Carolina and Ireland, as these two locations have solidified their positions as premier hubs with close access to major pharmaceutical markets.”
     In closing as the Air Cargo Americas Conference convenes, we recall Leo at the 2012 Air Cargo Forum in Atlanta. And guess what, Leo was talking temperature control at AA Cargo thirteen years ago.
     How about a couple of minutes with Leo in a blast from the past.
GDA/SSA