The following were overheard at cold-chain events this past summer, and are worth repeating:

"There are three topics on which there will never be agreement: religion, politics and MKT." - conference organizer

"My wife looks great in a little black dress. I could wear that same dress but I would have a hard time justifying why I should." - a cold-chain consultant's regulatory perspective as he explained why one company should be cautious about using another company's ambient temperature profile

"Vacuum panel insulation works much the same was as a Thermos bottle. Inside, it's able to keep hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold. But how does it know?" - a cold-chain educator's introduction to the principles of therodynamics

"There is a lot of crap to consider in the process of choosing a thermal packaging solution. And when I say crap, I mean CRAP: Container, Refrigerant, Ambient temperature exposure, and Pre-conditioning." - cold-chain educator

"I would like to introduce the man who is considered the leading global authority in pharmaceutical cold-chain management and logistics. Unfortunately, he couldn't make it. So, instead please let me introduce you to ____________" - conference host

For those of you who missed the opportunity in March or were turned away because the class was a sell-out; the Parenteral Drug Association Training and Research Institute (PDA-TRI) is once again offering their two day Cold Chain Management Course, Global Regulations and Standards: Influences on Cold Chain Distribution, Packaging, Testing and Transport Systems in conjunction with its annual PDA/FDA Joint Regulatory Conference.

The Training will take place following the joint conference on September 11-12th 2008. Details can be found here.

The course is only offered twice a year in the US and there are a limited amount of seats available.

My regularly scheduled column in Contract Pharma can be read on-line here.

This month, a discussion on MKT, what it is, and what it is not, and whether some companies are playing fast-and-loose with its application to side-step regulatory requirements and short-change their packaging of temperature-sensitive biopharmaceutical products.