Swords, Ireland: Thermo King has expanded its temporary storage product range that can meet the vaccine storage requirements.
Pharmaceutical companies in final-stage clinical trials anticipate they will require strict temperature controls to safeguard their products – down to temperatures as low as -70 degrees Celsius.
Thermo King products can enable these companies and their distributors to ensure the efficacy of their products through the entire cold chain – from air transport to marine, rail, trailer, last-mile delivery and at storage points along the way, the company says.
Nearly a fifth of temperature-sensitive health care products are damaged during transport, and a quarter of vaccines reach their destination in a degraded state due to breaks in the cold chain, the World Health Organisation says.
“Considering the urgent, global need for a Covid-19 vaccine, the world can’t afford breaks in the cold chain,” said Dave Regnery, president Trane Technologies (which owns Thermo King).
“Our new Cold Storage Solutions can maintain temperatures of -70 degrees Celsius for an extended period of time, can be leveraged to help reduce degradation of a vaccination, and most importantly, could prevent vaccine ‘deserts’ or lack of accessibility.”
Thermo King offers temporary storage solutions that maintain a set point down to -70 degrees Celsius, and can ensure end-to-end temperature control, security and traceability through state-of-the-art telematics. Additional storage solutions include refrigerated trailers, containers and portable cubes that can easily be scaled and repositioned to other locations as demand changes.
In addition to launching Cold Storage Solutions, Thermo King has helped customers identify ways to maximize the range of dry ice, which is often used in vaccine transport and storage but has certain limitations. A container using dry ice to keep a product frozen may require re-icing if it sits for an extended length of time or is exposed to extreme ambient weather. Thermo King offers storage solutions that can substantially extend the life of dry ice, or eliminate the need altogether.
“We have been engaging pharmaceutical and transport companies, policymakers, regulators and other industry partners to discuss ways to strengthen the cold chain,” Regnery said. “We know that we can help mitigate risk – we have a long history in cold chain expertise, and are actively working to innovate and address the complexities and potential challenges of the mass distribution of a temperature-sensitive vaccine.”
