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The recipe for safe drug delivery – an interview with Izabela Markosyan

In the latest December issue of FARMACOM magazine, you will find an interview with our expert, Izabela Markosyan, who discusses road transport of medicines – an industry in which we feel extremely comfortable.
Every day, we face challenges in ensuring the effective and safe delivery of medicines not only in Europe, but also to regions such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Thanks to our solutions, you can be sure that every shipment will arrive on time and in perfect condition.
It was a great pleasure for us to share our experience with the readers of FARMACOM Świat Przemysłu Farmaceutycznego (The World of the Pharmaceutical Industry). We encourage you to read it.
The transport of pharmaceuticals is one of the most demanding tasks in logistics, where every mistake can have serious consequences. Izabela Markosyan, Road Transport Department Director, talks about the challenges facing the industry and how the key role of qualified staff and modern technologies affects the safe transport of medicines. In the interview, she shares her experience and emphasizes that it is people who are behind the success of every cold chain.
What is most important in the transport of pharmaceuticals?
Compliance with certifications such as GDP and IFS is extremely important in the transport of pharmaceuticals, but this is only one side of the coin. The biggest barrier to entry into the cold chain logistics is people – qualified staff who not only know the procedures but are also able to monitor and respond to changing conditions. Employees at every level – from freight forwarders to drivers to warehouse operators – are key to product safety.
What skills should such staff have to ensure safe transport?

First and foremost, they should be people with extensive experience, but also with imagination. Albert Einstein once said, “Knowledge is limited, but imagination encompasses the entire world.” In pharmaceutical transport, this is a very accurate observation – knowledge and technology are crucial, but without creativity and foresight, they are not always enough. Employees must be able to respond to crisis situations, which often go beyond standard scenarios.
What are the most common crisis situations and threats you face in pharmaceutical transport?
Every day, the Polfrost team solves various types of problems that are reported by our drivers and qualified carriers on an immediate basis.
The problems are diverse because our area of operation is also wide – we carry out transport orders from Spain, Italy, and Germany, through Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece, to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia. We are most sensitive to attempts to steal goods, geo-economic and political conflicts (problems for non-local carriers), interference from refugees, generator failure, extreme outside temperatures, extreme road conditions, road accidents and the associated need to reload goods or replace trailers. There is an endless list of risks in the transport of high-value pharmaceuticals – we are constantly training to control and manage these risks, as they are often difficult to avoid.
What is the final message regarding pharmaceutical transport?
We should be aware that pharmaceutical transport is the transport of products to ensure human health, as well as the transport of products of significant value.
Therefore, we must design a transport service that takes into account all risks and emergency situations.
Quality procedures in paper form alone are not enough. Nevertheless, they provide a solid basis for ensuring appropriate processes in practice.
Our main goal is to ensure the safety of goods by using advanced IT systems, a reliable fleet, and qualified and experienced participants in the pharmaceutical product supply chain. It is people who are at the heart of the supply chain for such a sensitive product – without their knowledge, imagination, and commitment, even the most advanced systems will not function optimally.
And our PEOPLE have already gained the trust of a significant group of PEOPLE from pharmaceutical companies – I am pleased that our portfolio of partners is expanding every year, which means that the hard work put into implementation, training, and DPD audits makes sense and translates into our satisfaction with the daily challenges we overcome.