DHL Global Forwarding Partners Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics to Assure Safety and Efficacy of Lab Testing in Africa and Asia

• DHL has transported
  nearly
  26,000 Covid -19 testing vials for Longhorn, who is donating one million vials
  to the International Organization for Migration
• Vials were transported via three initial flights
  from Indianapolis to Kenya, Nepal and the Philippines, supporting emerging
  markets in the process
• Life-saving
  transports will help COVID-19 testing of refugees and displaced persons

SINGAPORE -�Media
OutReach - 25 February 2021 - DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight
specialist of Deutsche Post DHL Group, has partnered with Longhorn Vaccines &
Diagnostics, an innovative molecular tool,
assay and vaccine development company focused on serving unmet critical needs
in both developed and developing nations, to deliver much-needed Covid-19 testing
vials to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Kenya, Nepal and
the Philippines.

 

Longhorn
is donating one million tubes of its PrimeStore^® Molecular Transport
Medium (MTM) in an effort to increase the safety and efficacy of Covid-19
testing of refugees and displaced persons in the three countries. In the face
of the unprecedented global health crisis, DHL Global Forwarding has tapped its
global network of experienced life sciences and healthcare (LSH) logistics
specialists to transport nearly 26,000 vials of Longhorn’s PrimeStore^®MTM thus far. These deliveries
represent a continued commitment to provide a holistic range of patient-centric
solutions and deliver them where they are needed most — especially during a
pandemic.

 

“With more than two decades of
experience working with the LSH sector, DHL Global Forwarding has built up the
logistics expertise and global infrastructure, including certified facilities,
that are integral to the LSH supply chain,” said Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding
Asia Pacific. “Our capabilities place us in good stead to deliver life-saving vaccines and medical devices across the
globe according to the strictest requirements as countries battle the pandemic
to save lives and livelihoods.”

 

The pandemic has caused increased
challenges in the intricate deliveries of temperature controlled shipments,
including stricter controls at international borders, the absence of airfreight
capacity, and high demand for medical supplies around the world. For this
reason, Longhorn chose DHL Global Forwarding, who thanks to its specialists,
worldwide network of terminals, warehouses and offices, and technological
infrastructure, remains able to effectively maintain supply chains. Despite the
strained situation in air and ocean freight, urgently-needed protective
equipment, medicine, and SARS-CoV-2 test kits and vials in particular are still
being transported.

 

“Once we coordinated the donation of
one million PrimeStore^® MTM sample
collection devices with the IOM, we needed to manage the logistics of such a
large endeavor,” stated Jeff Fischer President of Longhorn Vaccines and
Diagnostics. “PrimeStore^® MTM inactivates
SARS-CoV-2 during collection and transit, which can reduce the need for safety
cabinets and reduce the time between collection and results. With the need to
ship to different countries on multiple continents and traverse to varied
customs requirements, DHL was the clear choice given the importance of reliable
transportation in the testing process.”

 

The IOM is an inter-governmental
organization dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration, with 173
member states, nine states holding observer status and offices in over 100
countries. The IOM works to ensure the orderly and humane management of
migration, promote international cooperation on migration issues, assist in the
search for practical solutions to migration problems and provide humanitarian
assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced
people.

 

Throughout
this pandemic and beyond, DHL Global Forwarding is committed to track,
comprehend, and comply with essential and increasing rules and regulations for
the storage, transportation, and delivery of pharmaceuticals, medical
equipment, biological products, and patient-specific treatments. This past
December, DHL started the international distribution of COVID-19 vaccine. For
the provision of its citizens, the government of Israel received the first
batch of the vaccine with flights operated by DHL Express and DHL Global
Forwarding. DHL Global Forwarding also dedicated a charter flight for
additional supplies of vaccine doses with more to follow. Additionally, DHL
Global Forwarding delivered the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines to Singapore.
DHL Global Forwarding arranged for the collection of the vaccines from the
manufacturing site in Puurs, Belgium, where the cargo was accompanied by
security escorts on the road to the Brussels International Airport. The cargo
arrived at Singapore’s Changi International Airport on December 21 where DHL
handled the customs clearance and final delivery to a designated location in
Singapore. The company will also handle the return of these special shipper
boxes to Europe.

 

Nine thousand specialists work across DHL’s dedicated global network so
that pharmaceutical, medical devices, clinical trials and research
organizations, wholesalers and distributors, as well as hospitals and
healthcare providers are connected across the value chain and through
digitalization, from clinical trials to point of care, and every step in
between. DHL’s portfolio for the healthcare industry includes 150+ pharmacists,
20+ clinical trials depots, 100+ certified stations, 160+ GDP-qualified
warehouses, 15+ GMP-certified sites and 135+ medical express sites.

 

Deutsche Post DHL Group also has a well-established infrastructure in
place to promote volunteer engagement among its employees and support refugee
aid and support programs. The Group’s Living Responsibility Fund provides
financial assistance to support voluntary work performed by employees. An
internal We Help Each Other fund is fed by individual employee donations to
help colleagues who find themselves in need in the wake of natural
disaster.

In its public-private partnerships, Deutsche Post DHL Group also promotes
education and employment opportunities, and assists both disaster prevention
and disaster response with a GoHelp disaster management program which it has
operated in partnership with the United Nations (UN) since 2005. Through this
partnership, the Group provides the UN and national disaster management
agencies with pro bono access to its core logistics expertise, and the
logistics skills of more than 700 specially-trained employee volunteers
worldwide who can deploy within 72 hours after a natural disaster. Disaster
Response Training is part of the Go Help program, as well as the Get Airports
Ready for Disaster (GARD) initiative –also part of the GoHelp program — trains
airport management in high-risk regions to be better prepared should disaster
strike. 

 

Note to editors:

Vaccine logistics for Covid-19 will pose challenges along
the supply chain that must be jointly addressed by governments, NGOs,
pharmaceutical companies, and logistics players urgently. Find out what lessons Covid-19 has taught on securing stable
supply chains for future emergencies and the complexities in distributing the
vaccine across the globe.

 

DHL – The logistics company for the world

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics
industry. Our DHL divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services
ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping
and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport
to industrial supply chain management. With about 380,000 employees in more
than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and
businesses securely and reliably, enabling global sustainable trade flows. With
specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology,
life sciences and healthcare, engineering, manufacturing & energy,
auto-mobility and retail, DHL is decisively positioned as “The logistics
company for the world”.

 

DHL is
part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 63
billion euros in 2019. With sustainable business practices and a commitment to
society and the environment, the Group makes a positive contribution to the
world. Deutsche Post DHL Group aims to achieve zero-emissions logistics by
2050.

About PrimeStore® MTM

PrimeStore^® MTM is the only U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared nucleic transport device that
inactivates SARS-CoV-2 within the device during collection and transit. According
to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines,
inactivated samples can be transferred to point of care devices and
laboratory-based molecular testing equipment without requiring a biological
safety cabinet, reducing the time between collection and results. Since the
COVID-19 pandemic began, Longhorn has driven COVID-19 testing by distributing
more than 35 million PrimeStore^® MTM tubes to providers in North and South
America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

About Longhorn Vaccines and Diagnostics

Longhorn
Vaccines & Diagnostics is
an innovative molecular tool, assay and vaccine development company focused on
serving unmet critical needs in both developed and developing nations.
Longhorn’s core product, PrimeStore^® Molecular Transport Medium (MTM), is a
patented, FDA approved, state-of-the-art ambient temperature molecular
diagnostic collection and transport device that can help governments, global
health organizations and drug manufacturers improve the diagnosis and treatment
of highly infectious diseases such as Influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and Mycobacterium
tuberculosis (TB). Unlike standard devices for collecting and transporting TB
samples, PrimeStore^® MTM is the first
molecular transport device that can safely deactivate pathogens and stabilize
RNA and DNA, allowing enhanced point of care and ambient temperature transport
for laboratory based molecular testing and characterization. Longhorn is based
in Bethesda, Maryland with a diagnostic research and development facility in
San Antonio, TX.