To uphold safety standards for sensitive pharmaceuticals and simultaneously adapt and prepare for a potential worldwide distribution of another vulnerable pharmaceutical (the future Covid-19 vaccine), emphasis must be placed on the importance of collaboration and partnership. As our industry works to continue to safely transport the medicine that has been essential even before the pandemic and looks forward to an unclear future, this is a partnership offering more certainty for essential medicines at a time of great uncertainty in the world.
As of early 2020, annual global sales of biologics and vaccines—which require strict temperature control—exceeded $340 billion. Amid the continued growth of these markets, cold-chain logistics account for nearly 18% of all biopharma logistics spending, according to the 2020 Biopharma Cold Chain Sourcebook published by Pharmaceutical Commerce.
To ensure full efficacy, safety and compliance, biologic medicine relies on consistent temperature environments of between +2°C to +8°C or +15°C to +25°C and protection from vibration caused by vehicles. The hybrid has an independent run time of an average of 8.4 days, and the possibility to prolong the run time for an extended period through automatic recharge in a cooling chamber. This enables the hybrid to maintain the steady temperatures required throughout extensive shipments, even as it travels through varying climates. Coupled with the shock-absorbing feet on the bottom of the containers, the hybrid is offering much-needed peace of mind for those shipping these vulnerable pharmaceuticals to patients around the world.
The IoT (‘Internet of Things’) sensors integrated into each container offer further peace of mind for those shipping the medicines, increasing visibility and security of the shipments even after producers part with them. The sensors allow tracking not only of the location of the shipment, but also of the internal and external temperature conditions of the containers as they move around the globe.
