Lane Assessment Algorithm

1. Pharma Index

2. Risk Landscape Overview

Pharma Index

As part of lane characterization, an assessment is computed to indicate the quality of a transport lane based on handling capabilities. This assessment is summarized by the Pharma Index, which serves as a relative measure of the quality of a healthcare shipment and is based on the average of individual characterization factors. 

To describe and evaluate detailed aspects of a lane, a total of five factors are considered. These evaluation factors are defined as follows:

	Product Temperature Exposure Assessment of the residual risk of the product after applying the mitigation of the packaging to the predicted ambient temperature exposure.
	Pharma Quality Management Assessment of quality management and compliance with pharmaceutical regulations.
	Security Assessment of capabilities related to security (i.e., cargo theft).
	Duration and Complexity Assessment of the total duration and complexity of the Lane.
	Lane Performance Assessment of actual shipment performance and shipment incidents on this Lane.

We recognize that additional factors could also be considered. However, we argue that the factors outlined above provide a balanced assessment of a pharma transport lane and are aligned with industry standards.

For each evaluation factor, the algorithm assigns a classification ranging from Basic to Excellent at every process step. Based on the individual scores for every evaluation factor at every process step, an overall classification per evaluation factor is identified.

This overall score is calculated by averaging the scores across all process steps. This approach enables comparison of classification scores for a specific evaluation factor across different transport lanes.

Note: The Pharma Index for a specific transport lane should be considered a relative score for providing an overall estimate of transport risk under the ICQ Q9 Guidelines. The absolute value of the Pharma Index for an individual transport lane probably has limited meaning, and the detailed interpretation should be derived from the classification scores of the evaluation factors for every process step. The Pharma Index is mainly designed to facilitate the comparison of the estimated overall quality of different transport lanes.

Risk Landscape Overview

The users, who have access to the lane overview, can find Pharma index indications in the lane overview, including sorting and filtering. 

The Pharma Index and all the sub-scores also appear in the Lane Overview download.

Shipment categories in a lane performance.