Growth in 'patient-centric care' driving M&A in pharma supply chains - The Loadstar

An explosion in M&A activity surrounding "patient-centric" approaches to healthcare is set to further reshape pharmaceutical supply chains. Speaking to The Loadstar at an event in Leipzig last week, DHL's life sciences and healthcare VP for EMEA, Ilhami Arslanoglu, said a "tremendous change" seen over the past decade in biopharma was being "accelerated". "You now have more than 4,000 cell and gene therapies being tested in the US, with the advanced pharma sector set to grow ...

Cosco profits surge, but headwinds from the US may slow pace of growth - The Loadstar

Cosco's box shipping division recorded surging revenues and profits last year, on the back of strong volume gains. Recording a year-on-year 10.12% uptick in volumes, to 25.9m teu, Cosco Shipping outpaced the average market growth rate of 6%, and reported a 34.4% jump in earnings, to $31.1bn. The Chinese carrier said: "In 2024, the container shipping market saw moderate growth in cargo volumes driven by a gradual recovery of global trade. Meanwhile, the ongoing turmoil in ...

Heathrow cargo operations back in action

Cargo operations are up and running at Heathrow Airport following the power outage that resulted in the grounding of all flights and shutdown of operations on Friday. There was no specific mention of cargo in an update from Heathrow on its website, an omission which didn't go unnoticed by BIFA on Friday, with the organisation stressing that the importance of cargo shouldn't be overlooked. However, Heathrow's 24 March update stated: "Heathrow is open and fully operational. Teams across the airport continue to do everything they can to support passengers impacted by Friday's outage at an off-airport power substation. "Passengers travelling today should check with their airline for the latest information regarding their flight." IAG Cargo said in an operational update on 23 March: "Following the power outage in the London Heathrow area on 21 March 2025, we are pleased to confirm that operations at London Heathrow have now returned to normal." Virgin Atlantic Cargo said its "operation has now fully stabilised following the closure of Heathrow Airport". "We have been operating our full flight schedule since 23 March. Our teams have been working hard to prioritise the rebooking of shipments that were unfortunately impacted by the airport closure," the airline said. Virgin told cargo customers to view Virgin Atlantic Cargo Track and Trace for shipment updates. However, Haissam Badr, National Freight Manager at international logistics provider Aramex UK, has warned that the recent closure of Heathrow Airport could cause "a significant backlog". "With flights grounded for the entire day on Friday, cargo operators have inevitably been scrambling to re-route shipments to alternative airports, but capacity constraints mean delays are inevitable. Unfortunately, any disruption at Heathrow is going to have a domino effect, particularly for industries dependent on just-in-time deliveries." James Golding, head of cargo and airline partnerships at Heathrow, announced that cargo activity is back to normal in a LinkedIn post on 23 March. He said: "Friday was a challenging day for Heathrow and many members of our local community, and certainly one of the busiest I, my team and our colleagues across the business have had in a while. "Thanks to all of our airlines, airport partners and supply chain colleagues for working with us tirelessly to recover our operation so smoothly by Saturday morning following the power supply issue. "This allowed our passengers to travel and cargo customers to receive their products with minimal delay." Heathrow announced in the early hours of Friday morning that it would be closed all day on 21 March due to a power outage because of a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport. Cargo handling zones were included in the areas with no power and cargo companies reported disruption and diversions to other airports, with some stakeholders predicting that the impact could last weeks. The airport had faced some scrutiny over its handling of the incident and questions over why there not measures in place to prevent closure, and UK government Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has ordered an investigation into the power outage. But a statement on 22 March from Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye explained: "This was not a decision we took lightly. The scale of the fire at an off-airport power substation was significant, impacting a large area of West London. It is inevitable that an incident of this magnitude would affect our operations." He added: "My colleagues, our partners and the emergency services have worked tirelessly to ensure a speedy recovery, and within 24 hours Heathrow's operation has returned to business as usual."