Pharmaceutical companies are navigating new regulatory demands, persistent cold chain vulnerabilities, and rising product complexity, but many still lack the end-to-end visibility needed to effectively manage these challenges, according to a new report by Tive, the global leader in supply chain and logistics visibility technology.

The result highlights a widening gap between the industry’s rapid growth and supply chain readiness, warning that it could lead to “higher rates of product spoilage, regulatory penalties and costly disruptions” if left unaddressed.

“Pharmaceutical companies are under immense pressure to not only comply with regulations, but also to ensure product integrity across increasingly complex supply chains. This research validates what we hear from customers every day: visibility is no longer optional. It’s the foundation of trust, compliance, and patient safety,” said Krenar Komoni, Founder and CEO of Tive.

Tive’s new whitepaper, “Beyond Visibility: Redefining the Future of Pharma Supply Chains,” developed in partnership with ABI Research, paints a picture of an industry at a crossroads. As demand surges for biologics, gene therapies and other temperature-sensitive treatments, companies are under increasing pressure to meet stricter controls and traceability requirements as well as reduce cold chain failures.  

Based on a survey of more than 300 decision-makers across the global pharmaceutical sector, the report identifies several persistent challenges —particularly in raw material receipt, inventory management and finished product storage. These challenges, it warns, expose supply chain operators handing sensitive treatments to disproportionate risks.

The findings underscore the urgent need for IoT-enabled visibility tools, risk management platforms and end-to-end data integration to ensure patient safety, protect product integrity, and reduce costly disruptions.  

Regulatory compliance remains the top priority for pharmaceutical companies, with Good Distribution Practice (GDP) and evolving mandates, especially in Europe, cited as the most pressing supply chain challenges.

Data quality also remains a weak spot, with many organisations reporting a lack of real-time data, difficulties in digitising and sharing it across systems, and limited trust in the accuracy of received information among their top challenges.

The study also revealed persistent organisational barriers, with 53 percent of respondents citing senior management issues and 47 percent pointing to staff resistance as major hurdles to adopting new technologies.  

Despite these challenges, technology adoption is steadily advancing—37 percent of companies have already deployed real-time visibility platforms and 32 percent are working closely with logistics partners, while interest in NFC/RFID smart labels and serialization is growing to achieve item-level tracking.

Furthermore, the study found that IoT expansion is gaining momentum, with nearly 60 percent of companies planning to broaden IoT monitoring across additional lanes and products within the next 18 months in an effort to reduce cold chain integrity failures.