BioLife Solutions, Inc., a leading supplier of class-defining bioproduction tools and services for the cell and gene therapies (“CGT”) and broader biopharma markets, recently announced a partnership with UNICEF to extend thermal stability of temperature-sensitive COVID-19 vaccines in developing communities in Africa, the Middle East and South America where limited power infrastructure and extreme environmental conditions make it difficult for most ULT freezers to remain operational. As part of this program, UNICEF has approved Stirling’s upright SU780XLE freezers and first-of-its-kind, portable UL25NEU freezer models for country specific selection.
Remote communities where electric utilities infrastructures are underdeveloped will continue to struggle to effectively store vaccines. The stringent temperature requirements of leading COVID-19 vaccines further constrain the ability for distribution and healthcare workers struggle to safely store vaccines. Stirling Ultracold freezers operate between -20°C to -86°C while withstanding very warm ambient conditions and without the need for HVAC access. The freezers are also shippable via air freight, shortening the time it takes to deliver the freezers to these isolated locations. Stirling portable freezers operate on flexible power including typical land supplies and optional DC power and can move easily from one location to the next, making them optimal to support vaccine distribution and storage in remote and developing geographies where COVID-19 continues to spread.
Mike Rice, BioLife’s Chairman and CEO commented, “We are committed to doing all we can to improve distribution and storage of temperature-sensitive vaccines and other medicines in underdeveloped countries. UNICEF’s unparalleled access to hard-to-reach communities around the world makes them an ideal partner to accomplish this goal.”
