- The logistics service provider specialising in the transport of pharmaceuticals attributes demands for worldwide storage and transport temperatures of minus 80 degrees to a lack of expert knowledge
- trans-o-flex’s ThermoMed special network is available for the local distribution of vaccines in Germany and Austria
- Active temperature control at 2 to 8 degrees, i.e. monitoring, control and documentation of compliance with the temperature range, is suitable for ruling out a possible reduction in the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines during transport
Weinheim, 30 September 2020. trans-o-flex, the pharmaceutical logistics company specialising in the transport of pharmaceuticals, rejects reports according to which logistics companies would have to set up networks worldwide for the transport of Covid-19 vaccines in which the products can be stored and transported at minus 80 degrees Celsius. “Anyone who knows just a little bit about the pharmaceutical industry understands that the hastily communicated temperatures of between minus 20 and minus 80 degrees Celsius are precautions that companies must take until they have valid data on the storage life of their products also at higher temperatures,” said trans-o-flex CEO Wolfgang P. Albeck. “In fact, several companies have now confirmed that Covid-19 vaccine candidates retain their efficacy even if they are treated like normal cold chain products, i.e. stored and transported at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius”. Albeck cited the companies Biontech and Curevac as examples. Mainz-based Biontech, which is developing a Covid-19 vaccine together with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, announced at a press conference that its vaccine could be stored at 2 to 8 degrees for five days. And, according to Albeck, the company intends to announce further assured results shortly. It can be assumed that the company will certify that its product has a significantly longer stability at refrigerator temperature. The Tübingen-based company Curevac, which is researching another vaccine candidate against Covid-19, has even confirmed that its vaccine against Covid-19 exhibits “stability over several months” at two to eight degrees Celsius.
From all this, trans-o-flex concludes that Covid-19 vaccines are also most likely to be classified as cold chain products that can be safely transported at so-called refrigerator temperature. “Thanks to our actively temperature-controlled networks, we are therefore optimally prepared for a nationwide distribution of Covid-19 vaccines,” says Wolfgang P. Albeck. “The subsidiary trans-o-flex ThermoMed, which specialises in distribution in the temperature range between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, can deliver Covid-19 vaccines, just like the influenza vaccines of recent years, to all doctors, pharmacies, hospitals and pharmaceutical wholesalers in Germany and Austria in a safe and transparently documented manner.
