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Apr 13, 2021 at 5:09 PMThe logistics service provider DB Schenker is transporting equipment for a vaccine production line from Frankfurt-Hahn Airport to Chicago-Rockford, packed in 20 crates measuring up to 8.5 meters in length and weighing a total of 82 tons. The facility is intended to build vaccine capacities to support several countries.
(Essen/Frankfurt/Chicago) Air freight special charter to tackle the pandemic: On behalf of the US health company Nexus Pharmaceuticals, DB Schenker this week transported equipment for a vaccine production line. The cargo consisted of a vaccine filling plant with an isolator from the German special machine manufacturers Bausch + Ströbel and Franz Ziel. An Antonov An-124 transported the valuable cargo from Frankfurt-Hahn in Germany to Chicago-Rockford in the USA. The total volume was 82 tons. Once the production line is operational, it can produce up to 30 million vaccine doses per month. The design and manufacturing of the facility began years before the pandemic.
Thorsten Meincke, Board Member for Air and Sea Freight at DB Schenker: “With our expertise in intercontinental transport, we want to support the global fight against the pandemic by building vaccine production capacities worldwide. We are proud that we can also realize short-term air freight solutions for our customers even in times of limited market capacities.”
Processing of Sterile Pharmaceutical Products
Bausch + Ströbel is a German specialist in machines and systems for pharmaceutical packaging. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, the company began developing and constructing the now-transported production line for filling pharmaceutical products into glass vials. Franz Ziel created a custom isolator to establish a truly aseptic environment for processing sterile pharmaceutical products.
From the locations of both companies in Ilshofen and Billerbeck, DB Schenker transported the equipment to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, from where a charter flight with an Antonov An-124 brought about 67 tons to Chicago-Rockford. The cargo was divided into 20 boxes: the largest container had a length of 8.5 meters and a load weight of 8.3 tons. Since even the capacities of the Antonov were not sufficient, an additional 15 tons were transported on DB Schenker’s weekly scheduled charter flight from Munich to Rockford.
Alleviating Production Bottlenecks
After the arrival of both flights in the USA, DB Schenker forwarded the entire load to Pleasant Prairie in Wisconsin, where Nexus Pharmaceuticals will use the vaccine filling plant with the associated isolator in a state-of-the-art sterile pharmaceutical production facility. Depending on the type of vaccine, the machine is capable of producing up to 30 million doses per month. This can help alleviate production bottlenecks in tackling the pandemic. The vaccines filled by the machine are intended for distribution both in the USA and internationally. Subsequently, the facility will be used for filling the extensive portfolio of other injectable products from Nexus Pharmaceuticals.
John Cook, Vice President of Manufacturing Operations at Nexus Pharmaceuticals: “Nexus Pharmaceuticals is very aware of the need to increase vaccine production capacities and has therefore taken significant steps to address the situation. The filling plant and the associated isolator are important building blocks for this. Their arrival marks a new milestone in Nexus’s efforts to meet medical needs during the pandemic. Nexus’s investment and the tremendous support from DB Schenker are crucial to ensuring that the commissioning of our state-of-the-art sterile pharmaceutical production facility can occur as quickly as possible.”
Antonov An-124 Chartered
An Antonov An-124 is nearly 70 meters long and has a wingspan of about 73 meters. Thus, the aircraft is similar in size to a “Jumbo Jet” of the Boeing 747 type. With a total shipment volume of 400 cubic meters, it was not the weight but the size of the cargo that determined the use of the four-engine aircraft for DB Schenker.
Jennifer Gabriel, Head of Air Freight at the Ilsfeld office of DB Schenker in Germany, oversaw the loading process of the special charter flight on April 10: “The complexity of this project lay in coordinating multiple involved parties and transport solutions. It is a great feeling to be part of such a well-organized example of life-saving logistics.”
Photo: © DB Schenker
