TNT signs up customers for new cold chain solution

TNT has signed up two global customers for its new cold chain packaging and shipping solution, Medpak VI°C, which officially launches this month. One of the customers is a leading clinical trial company; the other is a global biotech company.

Medpak VI°C derives its name from the service guarantee of a temperature variance of no more than 1°C during transport.

Explained why it has launched the service, TNT said: “Stricter regulations on patient safety and the growth in biologic drugs are increasing the need for proven cold chain logistics solutions, but these are often provided at a high price by specialist firms with no own delivery network.

“With Medpak VI°C, TNT offers an all-inclusive solution that combines high-end temperature-controlled packaging solutions with the comfort of a transport integrator’s air and road network. The service comes with tracking and monitoring solutions to ensure compliant cold chain management.”

At the heart of the Medpak VI°C service is a patented, cold chain packaging technology from the German company va-Q-tec which uses PCM (phase change materials) and vacuum insulation panels to keep temperature-sensitive packages within defined temperature ranges.

TNT provides the boxes on a one-way rental basis, transports the temperature-sensitive materials, and takes the empty boxes back after delivery to the receiver. The receivers can be hospitals, clinics, physicians, manufacturing or pharmaceutical distribution locations. This allows healthcare manufacturers to outsource the end-to-end management of packaging, conditioning, transport and return logistics to one global transport integrator.