Cold chain logistics were already critical in the pharmaceutical industry, with a quarter of global biopharma sales requiring cold storage and shipping in 2018, but the COVID-19 vaccines have put a global spotlight on temperature controlled transport.

The Moderna vaccine requires shipping and long-term storage conditions of -20°C and the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine requires an even lower temperature of -75°C. Being watershed developments in mRNA (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna) and adenovirus vector (Oxford) therapeutics, these vaccines have opened the door for a revolution in vaccine production and the way to transport it.

New solutions for temperature controlled packaging will play a crucial role in the future of vaccine and biologics transport. Avery Dennison has recently developed ThermaVIP+, encapsulated vacuum insulation panels, offering a cost-effective solution that tackles key challenges like temperature management, increasing shipment payloads and reducing waste in cold chain packaging.

Avery Dennison has recently developed the encapsulated vacuum insulation panels for vaccine and biologics transport.

ThermaVIP+ panels have an outer Polyurethane encapsulation layer that makes them rigid and robust, providing much higher mechanical resilience than traditional vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) and ensuring better performance through the rigors of transit, storage, and reassembly.

They deliver thermal performance up to seven times more effective than traditional insulation solutions. Temperature controlled packaging with ThermaVIP+ is compliant to ISTA 7D, is validated for internal temperatures of 15 to 20°C, 2 to 8°C, and -25 to -15°C and can extend transit time periods, in certain situations, for more than 120 hours.

For efficient distribution, packing needs to accommodate as many doses as possible per shipping. The slim and compact design of ThermaVIP+ reduces external shipping volume and provides up to a seven times greater payload compared to the popular insulation solution, polystyrene and polyurethane.

ThermaVIP+ panels are customizable, with diverse panel size and thickness for tailored solutions and efficient logistics. The robust encapsulation layer also gives ThermaVIP+ panels a modular construction that makes them easy to assemble and store, creating more efficiency in the operation.

Global supply chains require a large amount of resources, and to be able to support a growing need for temperature controlled transport (TCP), packaging material will need to support a circular economy that keeps critical materials in the supply chain.

ThermaVIP+ panels are designed for multi-use. The sturdy encapsulation layer makes them reusable, re-shippable TCP for closed-loop and open-loop shipping systems. Easy to disassemble and stack, ThermaVIP+ panels make it not only possible, but convenient, to create a circular supply chain.

Vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) are the ideal insulation solution for temperature controlled packaging. ThermaVIP+ brings additional durability, space saving, and reusability that introduces a cost efficient solution, compared to not only other VIPs but to all existing passive solutions. By optimizing temperature controlled packaging, ThermaVIP+ can help companies cut shipping costs by up to 50%.