Cold-chain facilities and emergency delivery systems inspected ahead of special quarantine period

Incheon and Deokpyeong centers handle 373 veterinary drug types with temperature-specific vaccine management

Proactive supply network activation aims to secure golden window for disease containment

Geo-Young headquarters [Geo-Young]
Geo-Young headquarters [Geo-Young]

Geo-Young, South Korea's top pharmaceutical distributor, is conducting a comprehensive review of its nationwide veterinary drug supply chain and cold-chain management systems in preparation for the heightened risk of livestock disease outbreaks this winter.

The company announced Friday that it will strengthen storage and delivery management for veterinary medicines in line with the government's special livestock disease quarantine period, which runs from October through February next year.

Geo-Young plans to carry out advance inspections of its cold-chain facilities, inventory levels and emergency delivery systems to ensure rapid drug procurement in the event of a quarantine emergency.

The measures come as foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, lumpy skin disease and bovine tuberculosis have all been reported across the country in recent months. Heightened concern has also followed the detection of a new SAT1 strain of foot-and-mouth disease in neighboring countries and a rising threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza from wild birds abroad. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has designated the period through February next year as a special quarantine period and has stepped up disease-control efforts accordingly.

Geo-Young currently operates out of its Incheon center and the Deokpyeong center — which spans 4,620 square meters — handling a total of 373 types of veterinary medicines for livestock including pigs, poultry and cattle, as well as companion animals. The company processed approximately 9.3 million units of veterinary medicines between January and September this year.

The Deokpyeong center in particular operates refrigerated (2–8 degrees Celsius) and frozen (below minus 20 degrees Celsius) cold-chain facilities to prevent the degradation of biological products such as vaccines.

Refrigerated vaccines, which account for more than 90 percent of all animal vaccines, require strict temperature control between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius. These include freeze-dried live vaccines — such as those for canine DHPPi and porcine PRRS — liquid inactivated vaccines whose structure breaks down when frozen, including those for foot-and-mouth disease and rabies, and genetically engineered vaccines such as those for porcine circovirus.

In addition, the company applies tailored management by formulation and temperature, including diluents that must be kept between 1 and 30 degrees Celsius and ultra-low-temperature vaccines that require storage in specialized liquid nitrogen tanks.

The inspection is a preemptive measure aimed at securing the critical early window for disease containment by improving the reliability of the cold chain across the entire distribution network — a step the company says is essential given that winter livestock disease outbreaks can cause severe damage to farms if they spread widely.

"Ultimately, the success or failure of livestock disease control comes down to the speed of supply on the ground," said Cho Sun-hye, chairwoman of Geo-Young. "We will manage our supply system without gaps so that veterinary medicines reach where they are needed, when they are needed."


silverpaper@heraldcorp.com