Pluss Advanced Technologies (PLUSS) will supply its its indigenously developed temperature-controlled Celsure COVID SURAKSHA Box to Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Dr Reddy’s Laboratories for an optimal temp-controlled transport experience and storage for the Sputnik V vaccine in India.
According to PLUSS, the partnership entails turn-key engagement Dr Reddy’s for Celsure packaging. In this effort, PLUSS will provide pre-conditioned Celsure boxes right at Dr Reddy’s warehouse to be readily used for Sputnik V packing. A separate specialised conditioning centre has been set up locally in Hyderabad with a fleet of rapid PCM recharging stations and mechanisms built for ‘track and trace’. This model, PLUSS says, meets the highest standard of cold chain supply management and is highly scalable to meet the country’s demand of vaccine doses in a short period of time.
Samit Jain, CEO, PLUSS said, “It is a privilege to be a part of Dr Reddy’s effort to provide the Sputnik V vaccine to the widest number of people and assist with the national Covid vaccination drive. In order to meet the demand, we have added to our manufacturing capacity and will continue work towards ensuring the vaccine reaches safely to its destination.”
Dr Reddy’s initiated a limited pilot soft launch of the Sputnik V vaccine in Hyderabad on May 14. The ongoing pilot has been scaled up to over 27 cities across India ahead of the commercial launch.
PLUSS’ patented Celsure COVID SURAKSHA box with phase change material (PCM) technology will control and maintain the temperatures at -180C, as required to ensure the efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine. It can maintain inside temperature passively, without electricity, at desired levels for more than 100 hours and serve as an energy-efficient and safer alternative to refrigerated containers, conventional ice-packs or even dry ice which is considered hazardous, unsustainable and unsafe for carrying in airlines.
Besides Sputnik V, Celsure is also available in variants that offer precise freeze-free 2 to 80C addressing use cases both at first and the last mile for carrying freeze sensitive vaccines. The use of traditional ice packs kept the vaccines exposed to the risk of freezing, one of the highest contributors to global vaccine wastage.
The Celsure box can also be customised to maintain inside temperatures in over 40 different ranges, from -77 to +890C, for a time ranging from a few hours to a few days. This allows maintenance of the integrity of pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, during transit, dispensing the need of electricity or fuel-powered cold rooms, refrigerated trailer trucks or refrigerators at vaccination sites.
