TNT has announced it has signed up two global customers for its new cold chain packaging and shipping solution, Medpak VI°C which is expected to officially launch this month. One client has been announced as a clinical trial company while the other is a biotech company.
TNT stated that Medpak VI°C is a reusable temperature-controlled packaging network service to help healthcare manufacturers reduce costs and waste when shipping temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical and biological materials. According to the announcement, this service is called Medpak VI°C because it guarantees a temperature variance of no more than 1°C during transport.
Medpak VI°C is expected to offer an all-inclusive solution that combines temperature-controlled packaging solutions with the transport integrator’s air and road network. The service is expected to provide tracking and monitoring solutions to ensure compliant cold chain management.
Central to Medpak VI°C is the patented, cold chain packaging technology from the German company va-Q-tec. This packaging solution uses PCM (phase change materials) and vacuum insulation panels to keep temperature-sensitive packages within defined temperature ranges. According to the company the solutions can maintain chilled, controlled ambient, or frozen temperatures for more than 96 hours.
TNT is expected to provide the boxes on a one-way rental basis, transport the temperature-sensitive materials, and take the empty boxes back after delivery to the receiver. The receivers can be hospitals, clinics, physicians, manufacturing or pharmaceutical distribution locations. This is aimed to allow healthcare manufacturers to outsource the end-to-end management of packaging, conditioning, transport and return logistics to one global transport integrator.
Cathy O’Brien, Industry Marketing Director Healthcare at TNT, said, “Reusing phase change material shippers can lower the cost of quality compliance, whilst reducing risk in the cold chain. With Medpak VI°C, we answer the need for balance between quality and cost, which our customers in the life science and health industry are looking for.”
Source: TNT