Brent Wilhelm on Cold Chain Pharmaceuticals Reshaping Shipping Needs

• Access part 1 of this interview on why pharma supply chains still run on historical demand data and how AI could close the real-time visibility gap.
• Access part 2 of this interview on last-mile drug delivery risks, carrier network visibility, weather disruptions, and how AI could improve routing.

In part 3 of a 3-part interview, Brent Wilhelm, Senior Vice President of Global Supply Chain, Cencora, examines the operational demands of specialty and cold chain pharmaceuticals, a segment he says is reshaping the industry's infrastructure needs. "70% of the new medicines being launched through this next year are in the specialty space," Wilhelm says, noting that more than half require cold chain handling, meaning packaging and storage capable of maintaining temperatures at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius or colder throughout transport. To meet that demand, Cencora has committed roughly $1 billion over the past year toward supply chain investments aimed at handling and shipping requirements more specialized than the industry has seen before.

Wilhelm also points to reimbursement pressure as a persistent, politically charged barrier shaping which products dispensers are willing to stock and administer. On the logistics side, he returns to the theme of building network nimbleness so product can flex to shifting demand, aided by AI and better data-sharing across the industry. He also cites external shocks, product shortages, geopolitical conflicts, and disease events like COVID-19, as reasons Cencora is rethinking inventory strategy.

That rethinking includes a new centralized distribution site focused on safety stock for critical inventories and medicines. "So we have inventory closest to the customer to serve the day-to-day, but we hold back a certain amount of inventory centrally so that we can ship that product dynamically across the country based on demand," Wilhelm explains.

Wilhelm’s comments point to a supply chain strategy built around flexibility: balancing regional inventory positioning with centralized reserves that can respond dynamically as specialty and cold chain demand continues to grow.