Who We Are
The ISTA Pharma Committee is an Ad Hoc Technical Committee comprised of individuals from both supplier partners and Life science end-user organizations involved in the supply chain for temperature-sensitive products. The committees goal is to develop and publish peer reviewed technical guidance that addresses relevant needs of the industry as well as provide a forum for industry members to collaborate and share best practices.
This guidance will define a representative standard and drive standardization to address specific topics for the advancement of the industry. Organizations from each part of the supply chain are members to provide differing perspectives and develop comprehensive technical content.
Get Involved
The ISTA Pharma Committee is looking for more involvement from all areas of the supply chain including:
- Medicinal product manufacturers
- Suppliers of passive thermal packaging
- Active thermal solution/service providers
- Transportation monitoring solution providers
- Logistic service providers
- Wholesalers
- Distributors
- Specialty pharmacies
- Industry subject matter experts and
- any other interested party
All new members will be added to the extended team and asked to provide peer review of all committee work.
Latest News
NEW! ISTA PCW-03 Thermal Modeling/Simulation Whitepaper
Get the new Whitepaper published by the ISTA Pharma Committee!
Live Virtual Training | Principles of Cold Chain Packaging
Join Dr. William Pelletier for ISTA's CC 101 Principles of Cold Chain Packaging on October 29!
ISTA PCW-02 Shipping & Distribution Risk Assessment Whitepaper
Get the new Whitepaper published by the ISTA Pharma Committee!
Call for Board Nominations
This is an open call for nominations for the upcoming ISTA Pharma Committee Board election. We encourage all members to participate in this process by nominating qualified individuals, including self-nominations. If a nominee is not currently a member of the ISTA Pharma Committee, they can join by clicking here.
Nomination deadline is Tuesday, February 4th.
Request for Participation in 2025 Whitepapers
Based on insights from multiple industry surveys, the ISTA Pharma Committee has identified three key topics as priorities for industry guidance. To address these, the development of three whitepapers is planned, focusing on the topics detailed below.
Request for Participation in Whitepapers:
We invite industry stakeholders to contribute to these whitepapers and are seeking volunteers to lead, co-lead, or participate in one of the efforts. If you’re interested, please click the link below to learn more about the whitepapers.
Whitepaper Topics:
- Thermal Packaging Sustainability Considerations
- Frozen Product Considerations
- Temperature Monitoring and Real-Time Monitoring Considerations
Guidelines & Whitepapers
The ISTA Pharma Committee develops, publishes, and maintains peer-reviewed technical guidance, addressing the industry's pertinent needs, while also serving as a collaborative forum for industry members to share best practices.
The committee is dedicated to achieving greater standardization across all existing and in-development ISTA Pharma Committee guidance documents.
Best Practice Guidelines:
ISTA PCG-00 | Catalog Listing & Glossary of Terms
ISTA PCG-01 | Reusable Passive Thermal Packaging System
ISTA PCG-02 | Passive Thermal Packaging System Operational Qualification
ISTA PCG-03 | Thermal Shipping System: Performance Qualification (PQ) and Performance Verification (PV)
ISTA PCG-04 | Thermal Packaging System Ambient Temperature Profile (ATP)
Whitepapers:
ISTA PCW-01 | Lane Management Whitepaper
ISTA PCW-02 | Shipping and Distribution Risk Assessment Whitepaper
ISTA PCW-03 | Thermal Modeling/Simulation Whitepaper
Upcoming Events
ISTA Pharma Committee events provide the opportunity for industry professionals to join with their peers, discuss issues that matter to the industry, and support the work of the committee. Our events help to foster a connected and knowledgeable community of leaders.
The ISTA Forum, including TransPack & TempPack, is an annual spring event where the packaging community comes together to tackle today’s challenges, explore best practices, and shape the future of transport packaging. TempPack focuses on technical topics and insights on global temperature-controlled performance packaging.
Every fall, the ISTA Pharma Committee hosts its annual Technical Exchange virtual meeting, where participants openly discuss industry trends, collaborate on setting standards, and receive updates on the committee's activities and progress. The event is open to all.
View Upcoming Events
ISTA Pharma Committee 'Connect' sessions present an opportunity for working groups to delve deeper into key activities. Open to all, these sessions offer valuable insights and encourage open discussions.