Sometimes It's Hot When It's Freezing

IQPC’s 9th Annual Cold Chain & Temperature Management Global Forum is a conference focused on keeping pharmaceutical and biological products cool. However, the new technologies and networking opportunities available at this year’s event were downright hot! This year’s event took place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. I had the opportunity to meet with executives from 30 different companies to find out what is hot in the cold chain. Perspectives ranged from Fortune 500 companies (American Airlines, Delta, Southwest, UPS), cold chain heavy hitters (Cavalier Logistics, Marken, Minnesota Thermal), and some companies with which you may not be very familiar, introducing game-changing technologies. Let’s start with the game changers.

Game-Changing Cold Chain Technologies
If you own a home, you are familiar with insulation — usually the thicker the better. American Aerogel believes the opposite. Robert Mendenhall, VP of business development, explained to me how the company he founded is using Aerogels to create containers with a thermal insulation value of R-50 per inch. Comparable containers with similar R-values are 50% to 75% larger than American Aerogel’s. Sometimes, less is more. Want to reduce your shipping costs, start with reducing the size of the container you are using.
Matty Toomb with American Thermal Instruments (ATI) demonstrated his company’s new product, and they are giving it away – for FREE. The first of its kind, the LOG-IC NFC is a killer app, turning any smart phone into a real-time monitoring tool when combined with ATI’s LOG-IC data logger. Based on the Android operating system, the app functions on any near field communication (NFC) capable smart phone, providing fully functional, wireless, end-to-end temperature monitoring in real-time. 

Another really cool product combines technology developed for use by NASA with the most basic chemical substance necessary for life — water. The brainchild of Bruce McCormick with Savsu Technologies, the NanoQ shipping container is an octagonal shaped unit which can store and ship temperature-critical products and maintain (2-8C) temperature for 10 days. Okay, you are probably thinking, there are a lot of products that can do this, so what’s the big deal? Savsu’s product accomplishes this feat with ordinary FROZEN WATER! If word gets out, the NanoQ might start showing up at NFL tailgate parties. 

The last cool cooling product I want to share was explained to me by Richard Ellinger, Intelligent Thermal Solutions’ CEO. The EcoTherm is a rugged looking box one might expect to see being carried by roadies during rock concert stage setup. The biggest surprise is not the toughness of this temperature-controlled shipping container, but its green-ness — in that the EcoTherm won two 
Greener Packaging Awards from Packaging World. 

All of the products I had the opportunity to see had a common theme — simplicity. Companies are focused on making data tracking and shipping containers simple and easy to use — many incorporating one-button technology. For those of us who still have DVD players with the clock flashing 12:00, this is a well needed and welcome evolution. 

Collaboration - Key To The Cold Chain
Speaking of evolutions, the cold chain is experiencing the same phenomenon prevalent in biotech and pharma — partnering, which was evident throughout the event. For example, UPS had another company’s product, ULD’s PharmaPort 360 shipping container, prominently displayed at its booth. Cavalier Logistic’s Clifford Wyllie shared how he developed a three-way collaboration between his company — focused on logistics, Savsu — focused on containers, and Hi-G-Tek — focused on tracking and monitoring of shipments. American Airlines’ VP Joe Reedy sees collaboration and strategic partnering as continuing to increase in importance, but with another twist. According to Reedy, pharma companies are no longer taking a hands-off approach by totally entrusting the safe transport of their products to outsourced logistics providers. Pharma companies are interested in giving greater input and gaining assurance of the safe handling of their temperature sensitive products — and with good reason. Inadequate temperature control of biologics and pharmaceuticals can affect product efficacy and potency, as well as cause bacterial growth leading to patient illness and death. As regulatory agencies hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for knowing all of the companies involved in the manufacturing of their product, they are now placing the same burden for these companies to insure the safe delivery of product throughout the supply chain all the way to the patient. One of the best ways to achieve this is through effective collaboration and strategic partnering — a theme which resonated loud and clear at this year’s show.