Dr. Jan Ehlers, chief executive officer at Secop GmbH, shares the trends and challenges in the cold chain industry and the rising demand for vaccine transport solutions.
Key insights:
- The recent surge in the industry requiring reliable, ultra-low temperature medical cold chain solutions is due to the rise in mRNA technology adoption and Cell & Gene Therapy (CGT).
- The demand for effective and efficient last mile delivery of new generation vaccines is challenging the medical cold chain for reliable and robust solutions.
- Secop developed an innovative ultra-low temperature (ULT) cooling box, which is optimised for the last mile of distribution.
Whilst the need for refrigeration or ultra-low temperature storage for vaccines is not new, demand increased considerably during the pandemic meaning the cold chain industry had to rapidly scale up production. The recent surge in the industry requiring reliable, ultra-low temperature medical cold chain solutions, is down to factors such as the rise in adoption of mRNA technology and the growing prominence of Cell & Gene Therapy (CGT). With this rise, we have seen increased support from the government for research activities and clinical trials focusing on immunisation, in turn increasing demand for vaccine transport carriers further.
Within the pharma industry, we are seeing the increased need for vaccine transportation boxes which are sustainable and can be used worldwide, particularly in ‘off-the-grid’ and remote locations. As with every industry, there is an increasing demand for brands to act sustainably and this is certainly true for the pharmaceutical industry.
At Secop, we draw on our experience and talented pool of people in order to create battery and solar-powered active cooling systems into our development to ensure we can offer the sustainable option so many are looking for. We have developed the innovative ultra-low temperature (ULT) cooling box, which is optimised for the last mile of distribution.
The box has a compressor which can be used to precisely control temperature and, unlike passive systems, ensures that no valuable vaccine is rendered unusable and wasted. In addition, there is no dependence on dry ice which in turn produces tons of CO2. Not only offering environmental benefits, this creates advantages especially for distribution in remote areas where the availability of CO2 cannot be guaranteed.
Additionally, we recently partnered with B Medical to develop a new generation of medical transport boxes to safely store and transport vaccines, biospecimen and other temperature-sensitive specimens at ultra-low temperatures.
One trend we are also seeing in the pharma industry is an increase in partnerships to combine skill sets and technologies to support successful development of vaccine transportation products. For example, we partnered with Global Health Labs to develop a new Solar Direct Drive controller, which is tailored to the WHO Performance, Quality and Safety specifications. The controller meets demands for solar direct drive as well as range, unstable power grids and weak installations and enables vaccine refrigerator manufacturers to meet the latest voltage stabilisation requirements.
However, similar to other industries, both global and local disruptions have had a knock-on impact for the pharma industry, including disruption to the supply chain and shortages of drivers affecting the movement of goods around the world. Coupled with significant increases in fuel and freight costs, times are particularly challenging for the pharma sector.
The demand for effective and efficient last mile delivery of new generation vaccines is challenging the medical cold chain for reliable and robust solutions, to guarantee storage and distribution in safe conditions with minimum waste of precious vials and maximum control of transport conditions, including areas with poor grid connections or severe ambient conditions.