World Courier Announces Support and Adherence with Revised European Union Guidelines for the Distribution of Medicinal Products

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GLOBAL SPECIALTY LOGISTICS PROVIDER REINFORCES COMMITMENT TO SAFETY AND QUALITY

London (October 30, 2013) – World Courier, an AmerisourceBergen (NYSE: ABC) company, today announced that the company’s operations are in full compliance with the recently issued Good Distribution Practice of Medicinal Products for Human Use (GDP) guideline document (2013/C 68/01) in the European Union (EU). The revised document replaces the previously-issued EU supply chain guidelines and includes more concrete directives to enforce responsibility, quality management, and process control in an effort to help improve product quality and safety.

"World Courier fully supports the new GDP direction and the positive impact the guidelines will have across the global supply chain industry," says Dr. Ruediger Lomb, Global Director of Quality and Technical Compliance for World Courier. "In fact, we proactively implemented our own changes over the past several years which now fall in line with the new EU guidance. Our initiative to meet the highest standards for our customers positions World Courier at the forefront of the industry, as one of the first to be in full compliance with the GDP."

On March 7, 2013, the updated GDP guidelines were published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The revised guidelines replaced the existing directives (94/C 63/03) put in place in 1994, and compliance became mandatory effective September 7, 2013.
The updated GDP guidelines explain that the expanded, more rigid requirements were put in place because of the importance of the distribution of medicinal products in supply chain management.

The updated guidelines are now in effect to help ensure that appropriate tools are available to assist wholesale distributors and other participants in the supply chain, in conducting their activities and prevent falsified medicines from entering the legal supply chain. Further, compliance with the guidelines will support control of the distribution chain and maintain quality and integrity of medicinal products.

About World Courier

World Courier is the largest, most experienced specialty logistics provider in the world, operating a company-owned network of 152 ISO 9001-certified offices in over 50 countries including 13 GMP-compliant investigational drug storage facilities in key emerging and strategic locations. With a fully GxP-compliant transport and supply chain system in place network-wide, World Courier meets the most demanding industry and regulatory requirements for managing time and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments. World Courier was acquired in 2012 by AmerisourceBergen, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical services companies, currently ranked #32 on the Fortune 500 list. For more information about World Courier and AmerisourceBergen, visit WorldCourier.com and AmerisourceBergen.com.


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