Brussels Airport used to be known chiefly as the political gateway to Europe; now it wants to be the place where tomorrow’s cancer treatments begin their journey. At a press conference on 19 January the airport unveiled the Precision Therapy Logistics Gateway (PTLG), a pilot corridor for moving extremely time-sensitive shipments of human blood and cellular material between hospitals, laboratories and pharmaceutical production sites.
Why it matters: so-called ‘living medicines’—including CAR-T cell treatments—must stay within a temperature band of 2-8 °C and often need to make a complete round-trip between donor and patient in under 72 hours. Any break in the chain renders the therapy useless and can cost upwards of €300,000 per dose. By installing dedicated cryogenic freezers, real-time GPS trackers and an on-call biomedical task-force at the airport, Brussels hopes to slash hand-over times and position itself alongside Memphis, Leipzig and Seoul as a global hub for advanced medicines.
The PTLG consortium—led by logistics specialist Savino Del Bene, cold-chain technology firm Cryoport and the Belgian life-sciences cluster flanders.bio—will run live test shipments throughout Q1 2026. Data collected on dwell times, temperature excursions and customs formalities will feed into an IATA white paper later this year that could set a worldwide benchmark for ‘cell-and-gene-corridors’.
![Brussels Airport trials ultra-cold supply chain for life-saving cell and gene therapies]()
Practical implications for mobility managers:
• Med-tech companies relocating staff to Belgium’s biotech triangle (Leuven-Ghent-Brussels) can point to the new corridor as a risk-mitigation factor in licence applications and insurance underwriting.
• HR teams moving researchers under Belgium’s inbound-taxpayer regime should flag the potential for increased out-of-hours call-outs linked to the 24/7 operation of the PTLG.
• Family members traveling with patients for treatment will benefit from the airport’s forthcoming ‘medical fast-track’ lane, due to open in March.
VisaHQ can also smooth the journey for these same researchers, employees and patient families by handling the often complex visa and travel-document requirements for Belgium. Its platform (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) provides real-time guidance, electronic application tools and status alerts, ensuring that critical passengers and couriers clear immigration without delay—an essential link in any 72-hour therapeutic loop.
Background: Belgium already handles 15 % of all pharmaceutical air-cargo in Europe and is home to three of the world’s ten largest vaccine producers. The new trial builds on that expertise but adds a layer of bespoke handling for shipments whose value is literally priceless—the patient’s own cells.
Why it matters: so-called ‘living medicines’—including CAR-T cell treatments—must stay within a temperature band of 2-8 °C and often need to make a complete round-trip between donor and patient in under 72 hours. Any break in the chain renders the therapy useless and can cost upwards of €300,000 per dose. By installing dedicated cryogenic freezers, real-time GPS trackers and an on-call biomedical task-force at the airport, Brussels hopes to slash hand-over times and position itself alongside Memphis, Leipzig and Seoul as a global hub for advanced medicines.
The PTLG consortium—led by logistics specialist Savino Del Bene, cold-chain technology firm Cryoport and the Belgian life-sciences cluster flanders.bio—will run live test shipments throughout Q1 2026. Data collected on dwell times, temperature excursions and customs formalities will feed into an IATA white paper later this year that could set a worldwide benchmark for ‘cell-and-gene-corridors’.
Practical implications for mobility managers:
• Med-tech companies relocating staff to Belgium’s biotech triangle (Leuven-Ghent-Brussels) can point to the new corridor as a risk-mitigation factor in licence applications and insurance underwriting.
• HR teams moving researchers under Belgium’s inbound-taxpayer regime should flag the potential for increased out-of-hours call-outs linked to the 24/7 operation of the PTLG.
• Family members traveling with patients for treatment will benefit from the airport’s forthcoming ‘medical fast-track’ lane, due to open in March.
VisaHQ can also smooth the journey for these same researchers, employees and patient families by handling the often complex visa and travel-document requirements for Belgium. Its platform (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) provides real-time guidance, electronic application tools and status alerts, ensuring that critical passengers and couriers clear immigration without delay—an essential link in any 72-hour therapeutic loop.
Background: Belgium already handles 15 % of all pharmaceutical air-cargo in Europe and is home to three of the world’s ten largest vaccine producers. The new trial builds on that expertise but adds a layer of bespoke handling for shipments whose value is literally priceless—the patient’s own cells.
