ProBioGen bets on flexible pharmaceutical logistics at City Dock® Berlin Zentrum

For more than 30 years, ProBioGen has developed and produced biopharmaceuticals, viral vectors and vaccinations at the Berlin-Weißensee site. With the expansion of the company, the research, production and warehouse site increasingly pushed its limits, both spatially and logistically.

An external warehouse became a strategic necessity as the production capacities could not otherwise have been expanded. The storage spaces used to date were distributed across several levels which made internal material flows increasingly inefficient. In particular, the freight elevator became a logistical bottleneck.

Short routes, more efficiency: Warehouse and production are moving closer together

In addition, the previous external storage of large-volume materials at warehouses operated by external GMP-certified service providers in the south of Berlin made supplying the production department increasingly difficult. Ad hoc calls were time-consuming, cost-intensive and only possible to a limited extent.

With the spaces at the City Dock® within Panattoni Campus Berlin Zentrum, ProBioGen has been able to significantly optimize its logistics processes. Today, the storage and production sites are in immediate proximity of each other. Materials and raw materials can be flexibly transported on short notice with company-owned vehicles. This significantly decreases reaction times and production processes can be controlled much more efficiently.

Customised spaces for complex pharmaceutical logistics

The special requirements of the biotech industry were fully met from the start at the commercial spaces built according to the City Dock® concept. These include, among others:

• Room temperature storage at 15-25°C
• Gapless temperature and moisture documentation
• GMP-compliant storage and clear separation of GMP and non-GMP items
• Several simultaneous zones for simultaneous incoming and outgoing deliveries
• High storage heights and flexible warehouse layouts
• Energy infrastructure for special cooling elements and automated warehouse equipment
• Can potentially be expanded to include: Refrigerated storage 2-8°C; and deep-freeze storage -20°C and -80°C

The option to flexibly adapt the warehouse layout to the respective requirements was particularly important to ProBioGen. Large-volume packages, high pallet racks, or special storage areas can be flexibly customised to the spaces.

Flexibility as a strategic success factor

For ProBioGen, flexibility has not been an optional comfort feature for a long time—it is a strategic need. 

“It would be nearly impossible to list the requirements for pharmaceutical logistics, and they are becoming increasingly detailed and demanding. At the Panattoni warehouse, we are not bound to rigid building infrastructure,” says Jens Müller, Head of Logistics at ProBioGen.

City Dock® Berlin Zentrum offers this large structure, flexible space concepts and infrastructure that can be quickly adapted to the new requirements. This way, ProBioGen can react optimally to new regulatory specifications, warehouse technologies, and modified production processes.

The additional operative value of the site has also been demonstrated when temporarily storing large production systems. Heavy equipment was able to be temporarily and safely stored, inspected and called up as needed without an external service provider.

A view to the future: Scalability for new biotech ecosystems

Starting in 2028, ProBioGen will also become part of the new “Berlin Center for Gene and Cell Therapy” (BC GCT / Riverside Labs) in Berlin-Mitte. A new biotech ecosystem for gene and cell therapies will be built there that is intended to support, in particular start-ups, in the clinical development of innovative treatments.

With the new duties, the logistical requirements also increase. Future ordering cycles, material requirements and processes can’t yet be fully foreseen today—one reason why maximum flexibility remains crucial.

The pharmaceutical logistics industry will also remain a dynamic environment in the future. The spaces must therefore be continuously developed and be adaptable to new requirements on short notice.

Conclusion

With City Dock® Berlin Zentrum, ProBioGen found a sustainable logistics solution that meets the high demands of the pharmaceutical logistics industry and simultaneously offers the highest possible level of flexibility for further growth.

The combination of the strategic location, scalable spaces and modern infrastructures allows the company to efficiently further develop its production and logistics processes.