Project Brief
One year ago, most of the world did not know what the Ebola disease was, nor how quickly or easily that it could spread. That changed, nearly overnight, as an Ebola outbreak reached crisis proportions in West Africa with cases being reported around the world. As of January, World Health Organization (WHO) figures showed nearly 22,000 cases of Ebola in nine countries in the past year since the epidemic began in Guinea. This includes nearly 8,700 deaths. Pharmaceutical companies quickly jumped into the race to develop an Ebola vaccination, with several currently in clinical trials to prove safety and effectiveness.
Challenges
The primary challenges facing CRS Pharma Solutions were time constraints. With the Ebola outbreak reaching crisis proportions, pharmaceutical companies were quickly racing to develop a vaccination. With over 8000 deaths reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) time was of the essence.
Other challenges facing CRS Pharma Solutions include the stability of the product contained. Patrick Tyrrell of CRS stated that “While proper storage and transport temperatures have always been crucial in the pharmaceutical industry, it is vital in new products as the reaction of various components during temperature fluctuations are often unknown. For this reason, companies want to store the product as cold as possible.”
Solutions
In order to meet the client requirements of the project, CRS Pharma Solutions supplied a new Ultra Low Temperature container cold store.
CRS Pharma Solutions in-house project management team immediately began co-ordinating the with global supplier partners and the internal Pharmaceutical storage and GDP (Good Distribution Practice) specialists to ensure the Ultra Low Temperature solution was delivered on time.
To ensure the solution met the clients requirements, CRS Pharma Solutions commissioned a new highly insulated cold store body, featuring a minimum insulation of 105mm. This would ensure a consistent temperature within the chamber and prevent temperature instabilities impacting the safety of the product within.
Having a long term relationship with Thermo King was critical to the success of this project and the use of a Thermo King Super Freezer to ensure the temperature required by the client was met. CRS worked with Thermo King to secure the product in the time required to ensure deadlines were met.
Results
The project was completed on time and made available to the client within weeks of the original enquiry. It is currently being used in the fight against the Ebola outbreak storing vaccination products at the desired temperatures.
