The successful cool chain
Qualified thermal packaging is an essential element in the successful delivery of critical temperature-controlled pharmaceutical products that must traverse the globe. Equally important, explains World Courier, is the worldwide handling of each shipment by qualified and experienced personnel.
There are currently a variety of temperature-control packaging systems on the market designed to accommodate pharmaceutical shipments of every volume, dimension, temperature requirement, excursion tolerance and value including active systems, semi-active systems, passive systems and dry ice systems.
To ensure the quality of the pharmaceutical product at its destination, each cold chain solution must be tailored to that individual shipment, taking into consideration its value, transport costs and acceptable risk. Selecting the correct packaging system requires an understanding of both the transportation logistics (routing, length of time in transit, expected arrival time and known in-transit cool chain facilities) as well as the environment the shipment will be exposed to during transit (extreme heat or cold, or seasonal temperature fluctuations).
There is no one right system for any shipper or consignment. At the conceptual level, the choice of packaging should form part of the company's larger cost/ performance strategy while conforming to established research objectives. At a functional level, the decision should take into consideration the fundamental nature of each shipment: its size and dimensions, product stability and tolerance, distance to be travelled, expected transit time, ambient temperatures through which it must travel, intrinsic value of the shipment and required delivery time.
Service considerations
From a service perspective, pharmaceutical shippers should ensure that their transport provider has the ability to make appropriate packaging recommendations, can advise the correct configuration of refrigerants based on the transport logistics, knows exactly where to situate temperature/data loggers for optimum function, and can both access and manipulate shipments in transit as required to maintain the cold chain.
The in-house temperature-control specialists in each World Courier office work with a full range of thermal packaging options including active, semi-active and passive systems, as well as dry ice and liquid nitrogen shippers - all of which conform to current UN/IATA standards. Staff work closely with customers to recommend packaging solutions that will maintain the product within the desired temperature range while working within budgetary constraints.
GxP-compliant World Courier offers the highest quality thermal shipping systems currently available on the market - systems that use only the most sophisticated technology such as vacuum-insulated panels and phase-change materials proven to maintain product stability even in extreme ambient temperatures. At World Courier, the configuration of refrigerants is calculated individually for each shipment based on the product's temperature requirements, and is designed to maintain 'in spec' temperatures for up to 120 hours to allow for any eventuality. All shipments are handled according to global SOPs. More conventional offerings are also available.
World Courier cool chain solutions are available for all critical temperature ranges:
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"The successful pharmaceutical cool chain is driven by two elements, both equally important: proper packaging and efficient in-transit management by people experienced in temperature-controlled transport."
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- controlled ambient (15-25°C)
- refrigerated (2-8°C)
- frozen (-20°C)
- deep frozen (-70°C)
- packed on liquid nitrogen (-196°C).
