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Original title: Research and development of the Pfizer isothermal box to solve the new transport problem of the corona vaccine
In the last period of time, although good news about the progress of the new corona vaccine has appeared frequently in the newspapers, behind the news there are always some hidden concerns that lie ahead, such as storage and transportation of the vaccine. Especially long-term storage of Pfizer vaccine, which is progressing well, requires less than 70 ° C. The demand for this is even more concerning. Fortunately, for market concerns, Pfizer has given its own answer: develop a special isothermal box, so that the vaccine does not require refrigerated trucks or airplanes, and can be completed only with normal transport.
The 90% effective rate of Pfizer’s new corona vaccine has failed to enthuse the market for long, and practical transportation and distribution problems have thrown cold water. In response, on November 17, Pfizer CEO Albert Burla said in an interview with the US health news website StatNews that Pfizer has developed a special isothermal box.
It is understood that this type of box is informally called “pizza box”. It contains a thermometer and a GPS inside. It can not only track the position of the box at each point in time, but also track the temperature to make sure its temperature is not high. Below or below specification. In addition, this isothermal box can contain between 1,000 and 5,000 doses of vaccine. Once the company obtains the delivery address, the vaccine will be shipped overnight to vaccine distribution locations in the United States and other developed countries.
In a response sent to a Beijing Business Daily reporter, Pfizer also revealed that they already have detailed plans and tools to support the transportation, storage and continuous temperature monitoring of the vaccine effectively. Among them, Pfizer’s specially designed heat carrier that uses dry ice to control temperature will keep the vaccine stored at -70 ℃ ± 10 ℃ for up to 10 days, and will track the location and temperature of the vaccine transport in real time. . The vaccine is shipped to various countries or regions, and then the vaccine is stored in other ways.
According to Pfizer, vaccine recipients will have three ways to store vaccines. One is to use ultra-low temperature freezers that are already on the market to extend the shelf life of the vaccine to 6 months. The second is that the vaccine itself can be stored for 5 days in a refrigerator at 2-8 ° C, which is also the normal temperature for a hospital refrigerator. The third is to fill the special Pfizer shipping box with dry ice, which can keep the vaccine for 15 days.
For Pfizer, solving transportation and storage issues is critical. Due to the use of the latest mRNA technology, Pfizer vaccines must be stored in a low temperature environment below minus 70 ° C, which exceeds cold chain assurance requirements under realistic conditions in many countries. Professor Toby Peters of the University of Birmingham in the UK once mentioned that most vaccines are stored between 2 and 8 ° C. The stringent temperature requirements of Pfizer’s new corona vaccine candidates will limit their mass distribution.
Peters said the new corona vaccine requires deep refrigeration, which not only adds complexity to the storage, transportation and distribution of the vaccine, but also presents challenges to existing cold chain facilities in various countries. In contrast, developing countries with underdeveloped economies and countries and regions with hot climates may find it more difficult to achieve this. In some countries, between 30% and 40% of medical centers cannot even meet basic electricity supply, and in some countries, less than 10% of medical centers can have refrigerators.
It is worth noting that a few days ago, following Pfizer’s 90% effectiveness rate, Moderna also reported good news, saying that the company’s new corona vaccine candidate mRNA-12733 performed well in the interim analysis of the clinical trial of phase III and its effectiveness reached 94.5%. And Moderna’s advantage over Pfizer isn’t just effectiveness. It is understood that the vaccine of the former can be stored for 30 days at a standard refrigeration temperature of 2-8 ℃, and hopefully it can be stored for a long time at a standard refrigeration temperature of -20 ℃. 6 months.
This means that Moderna’s vaccines can be better stored under relatively conventional conditions than Pfizer’s vaccines, and countries that use Moderna’s vaccines do not need to establish large-scale frozen production, storage and transport networks for vaccination. In comparison, the conditions for the Pfizer vaccine are somewhat harsh. “The Moderna vaccine is more compatible with the existing vaccine transportation network. Even in remote and underdeveloped areas without cold chain infrastructure, coolers can be purchased at a lower cost to ensure a low temperature environment”, Research Assistant Pharmaceutical, Warwick Business School, UK Said Professor Ayfer Ali.
When the vaccine is actually distributed, it is very likely that another scene will appear. This is the next critical thinking about vaccine rush on the market. Gordon Dugan, a professor at the University of Cambridge in the UK, said that many vaccines need to be stored at temperatures of about 4 ° C or below, but Pfizer’s vaccines require storage at minus 70 ° C. “This way, you can imagine the vaccine transport chain Once it is sent to the doctor, how long the vaccine can be stored at or near room temperature.
Additionally, the U.S. Capitol newspaper quoted experts as saying that ultra-cold freezers will bring financial burdens and that Pfizer vaccines must be injected twice at 21-day intervals, making it more difficult to provide the required amount of vaccines and can cause wasted doses. As for the question of whether it will bring a financial burden, Pfizer did not respond to this.
Beijing Business Daily Reporter Yang Yuehan
