Ammie McAsey

LogiPharma USA 2025: Pharma Supply Chains Evolve Toward Real-Time Visibility and End-to-End Control

 Editor Nico Saraceno spoke with several key opinion leaders about how technology, innovation, and inclusivity are reshaping pharmaceutical logistics.

Krenar Komoni, founder and CEO of Tive, highlighted a critical industry shift: the move from passive to real-time temperature control. While adoption has been slower than anticipated, Komoni noted that progress is accelerating, aided by new technologies. He predicted that the full transition to real-time visibility could take another 12 to 36 months, citing the challenges of scaling across global networks.

McKesson’s Ammie McAsey, SVP of supply chain operations, discussed how advanced therapies are challenging traditional distribution models. Precision medicines and individualized treatments require a new level of quality assurance and communication across stakeholders. McAsey emphasized investments in both physical infrastructure, including refrigeration, frozen, and cryogenic systems, and digital platforms that enable seamless communication between providers and manufacturers. As she explained, distributors like McKesson play a key role in bridging these operational and technological gaps.

Finally, healthcare supply chain expert Dave Malenfant reflected on LogiPharma’s evolution over the past two decades, noting the conference’s growing inclusivity and representation. Once a male-dominated space, today’s event features diverse voices and a mix of companies spanning clinical and commercial supply chain disciplines.

Together, these insights underscore a unifying theme: pharma supply chains are becoming more connected, data-driven, and people-focused than ever before.

A transcript of their conversation of their conversation can be found below.

 Welcome to a special edition of LogiPharma USA coverage. I’m Nico Saraceno, editor of 

. This year’s installment of the conference was yet another action-packed one, as I had the opportunity to speak with a variety of KOLs in the space, including Krenar Komoni, founder and CEO of Tive, who highlighted the transition in pharma from passive to real-time temperature control.

How did he do that? He noted delays in tech adoption while emphasizing how AI and automation will soon drive cost savings, improved quality, and stronger customer experience.

 What challenges are currently impacting the temperature-controlled space?

 So the temperature control space and all the various companies, especially in the pharmaceutical side, they're going through a transition phase, which I call it, going from passive to real time. And it's taking its time. And I wish we were there sooner, but there's a lot of reasons why we're not there yet.

Technology providers haven't moved as fast we're finally just for instance, with dive, we released a solo pro device, which is a pharma specific real time tracker that meets all the 21 CFR Part 11 requirements. It's GXP compliant. And to be able to move everything from passive to real time, it's gonna take a little bit longer time. Call it another 12 months, maybe 24 to 36 months max. But this is one of the challenges right now, is this transition, and what comes with this transition.

Now when I asked Ammie McAsey, McKesson’s SVP of Supply Chain Ops, how advanced therapies are challenging traditional supply chain models, she dove into the need for end-to-end visibility among other qualities.

 Challenging the traditional supply chain model, traditional kind of pharma has been—in the distributor space—built for speed and efficiency, and while that's critically important, quality is of the utmost importance. The supply chain seems to be a little bit longer and has a lot more partners as we think about the precision medicine, and potentially one therapy for one cure and one patient.

The investment in technology to ensure end-to-end visibility and end-to-end communication is really, really important, so that's challenging the model. There are also temperature challenges, vibration challenges, multiple other scenarios that we have to account for with these specialized drugs.

How are we addressing that? Really around investments, and we have to look again across the supply chain for those investments, whether it's in refrigeration, in frozen, in cryo, or whether it's digital investments that allow for that visibility and tracking and communication between the provider, as well as the manufacturer of the drug or the therapy. You have to hit it from both angles, but I think as we sit in the middle as a distributor, we're well positioned to do both.

 Let us not forget Dave Malenfant, a healthcare supply chain expert, who took us through LogiPharma USA’s development over the past two decades.

 When LogiPharma first came out, there were not a lot of women, and it was a very male dominated industry. And we've evolved where, if you notice the crowd now, a lot of women. Finally, we've got a lot of women that are coming into the industry, WBR and LogiPharma has done a really good job of trying to embrace as many different companies, small, medium, large, and in folks that are really concentrated on both the clinical side and on the commercial side of supply chain.

Videos

At LogiPharma USA, industry leaders from Tive, McKesson, and the broader healthcare logistics community discussed the sector’s transition from passive monitoring to real-time control, the growing influence of advanced therapies, and the importance of diversity and innovation in shaping the future of pharma supply chains.

LogiPharma USA 2025: Advanced Therapies Push Pharma Supply Chains Beyond Speed 

In a keynote fireside panel on “The Future of Supply Chain in the Era of Advanced and Specialty Therapies,” industry leaders underscored the growing importance of collaboration across the entire healthcare ecosystem. The discussion, highlighted by insights from McAsey alongside other panelists, explored how new demands in the supply chain are reshaping the delivery of advanced therapies to patients.

The most critical theme was collaboration across all nodes of the supply chain. Unlike traditional models, where stakeholders often operated independently, today’s environment requires a highly integrated approach spanning manufacturers, distributors, providers, and ultimately, patients. This collaborative framework ensures that therapies not only move efficiently through the system but also maintain integrity and accessibility at every step.

Technology emerged as a central enabler of this collaboration. Advanced tools are helping companies improve visibility, track therapies in real time, and strengthen communication across the supply chain. By integrating digital platforms, stakeholders can reduce risks, address disruptions quickly, and provide a stronger assurance of patient outcomes.

Another key theme was the intentional use of physical assets. As therapies become increasingly specialized, supply chains must adapt with precise logistics tailored to these high-value, sensitive products. From controlled storage environments to optimized transportation networks, precision in handling is now a necessity rather than an option.

Finally, partnerships beyond the core manufacturer-distributor-provider triad are proving indispensable. Logistics providers, transit partners, and visibility technology vendors all play a vital role in ensuring therapies are delivered safely and reliably.

Taken together, the panel illustrated that in the era of advanced and specialty therapies, no single entity can deliver care alone. The future of patient-centered supply chains lies in shared responsibility, cross-sector collaboration, and leveraging both technology and physical infrastructure to achieve better outcomes.

McAsey also comments on how advanced therapies are challenging traditional supply chain models; the value of end-to-end visibility, real-time data, and collaboration in reducing disruption and ensuring continuity of care; trends she’s noticed at this year’s LogiPharma USA; and much more.

How are advanced therapies challenging traditional supply chain models, and what adaptations do you believe are needed?

Challenging the traditional supply chain model, traditional kind of pharma has been—in the distributor space—built for speed and efficiency, and while that's critically important, quality is of the utmost importance. The supply chain seems to be a little bit longer and has a lot more partners as we think about the precision medicine, and potentially one therapy for one cure and one patient.

As precision medicine reshapes drug distribution, Ammie McAsey, SVP of Supply Chain Operations, McKesson, highlights the need for deeper investments in technology, temperature control, and end-to-end visibility to ensure quality and patient safety in advanced therapy supply chains.

LogiPharma USA 2025: Collaboration Takes Center Stage in Specialty Therapy Supply Chains

You just participated in a keynote fireside panel on “The Future of Supply Chain in the Era of Advanced and Specialty Therapies.” What were some of the highlights of the discussion?

First of all, thank you for having me, but I think as we look back on the panel, there were a few key themes. One is really around collaboration across all nodes of the supply chain, in that no one can deliver patient care by themselves anymore. When you start with the manufacturer, move through a distributor, a provider, and ultimately the patient, it takes a lot of collaboration, and that collaboration comes in a couple of forms, technology being one of them.

Physical assets: As specialized therapies become more and more precise, there's more intentionality in terms of moving products or solutions through the supply chain. And then maybe the third is the partnership that's required, not just of those three nodes, but the other partners in terms of transit or visibility that are really necessary to deliver that patient care, and so we pulled all of that together during the panel and told a really great story of why collaboration is so important in healthcare today.

Ammie McAsey, SVP of Supply Chain Operations, McKesson, emphasizes the critical role of collaboration, technology, and partnerships in ensuring advanced and specialty therapies reach patients safely and effectively.

Ammie McAsey

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