World Courier Receives Wholesale Distribution Authorisation

World Courier, an AmerisourceBergen company, has been granted Wholesale Distribution Authorisation (WDA) by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The WDA is a benchmark certifying the company’s quality systems and processes for storing and distributing pharmaceuticals.

World Courier received the WDA certification following an application process and inspection by MHRA. Designed to ensure patients safely receive their proper medications, the regulation serves as a verification measure to enforce the European Union’s Falsified Medicine Directive. MHRA regulations require WDA for companies that store shipments of pharmaceutical products for longer than 36 hours or have a refrigerated storage facility for pharmaceuticals. The company also met requirements to demonstrate compliance with the European Union’s Good Distribution Practice (GDP), guidelines that regulate the storage and transportation of medicinal products intended for human consumption.

“Becoming one of the first specialty logistics companies to acquire Wholesale Distribution Authorisation in the UK is a significant accomplishment for AmerisourceBergen, World Courier and our clients,” said Simon Beaumont, Managing Director for World Courier in the UK. “As the global leader in specialty logistics, we continuously strive to offer our clients the best possible integrated supply chain services to improve the quality and accountability in the transportation, dispensing and storage of pharmaceutical products. The WDA accreditation recognises these efforts and demonstrates our commitment to a safe, secure and efficient specialty pharmaceutical supply chain.”

With World Courier receiving WDA accreditation, shipments of pharmaceuticals to the company’s UK location can be stored in MHRA-approved temperature controlled areas over extended periods of time, such as a weekend. Clients can rely on World Courier to be compliant with the MHRA requirements including equipment, documentation and qualified sub-contractors. Additionally, the supply chain’s security is improved by enhanced security and traceability of the shipments, as per MHRA standards.

The WDA accreditation is one way AmerisourceBergen continues to connect patients to vital treatments when and where they need them. Safe and timely delivery of medication is critical to the success of clinical trials and to patients accessing licensed medicinal products.