The cold chain of Covid-19 vaccines
Audio 02:05
Pfizer and BioNTech are the first laboratories to release interim results from Phase 3 vaccine trials (illustrative image).
© Reuters
By: Dominique Desaunay Follow
5 mins
In order to preserve their effectiveness, some Covid-19 vaccines can be stored at extremely low temperatures.
How then can we guarantee that the cold chain is never broken during their transport?
A young French start-up from Montpellier has developed technology that responds to this real logistical puzzle.
Publicity
Refrigeration logisticians are preparing to transport millions of vaccine doses from laboratories to their storage locations in refrigerated boxes containing dry ice at -80 ° C.
This is the case, for example, with the
Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine,
which must be stored without breaking the cold chain, otherwise its efficacy will be degraded or become dangerous for human health.
While the technologies to generate this intense cold are well mastered, "
temperature monitoring during transport becomes essential
", specifies Yohann Caboni, CEO of
Koovea
.
This young French startup from Montpellier has developed autonomous and connected sensors that guarantee that the cold chain of Covid-19 vaccines will never be broken.
“
These small sensors that are embedded in refrigerators send real-time temperature data to a dedicated mobile application.
Near the probes we place a small box that connects to cellular networks, all the information goes back to our computer servers to generate an alert message in the event of a problem.
It is a problem of international dimension, each year 35 billion dollars of losses are due exclusively to these breaks in the cold chain in the world.
They could be avoided with adequate, appropriate and preventive temperature monitoring.
We have not created this device specifically for Covid-19 vaccines, we have already carried out temperature monitoring in the DRC on behalf of an American NGO that distributes, manages, stores a vaccine in the clinical trial phase against the Ebola virus.
The same solution will be used to secure the vaccine doses against Covid-19, both for storage and for their transport.
"
Created in 2018, the young company
Koovea is
already
equipping
many pharmaceutical laboratories, hospitals, but also food distributors of perishable foodstuffs and perhaps soon the thousands of refrigeration transporters, who will deliver the first vaccines against Covid-19, including
The cold chain
will also be strictly supervised and controlled by the health authorities.
You have questions or suggestions, you can write to us at
news.technologies@rfi.fr
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