Sofrigam brings thermochemical cooling environmental breakthrough to ICCC cold chain conference in Nantes

news-releasesSofrigam S.A

August 7th 2020

Rueil Malmaison, France: – Temperature-controlled logistics and pharmaceutical cold chain packaging specialist Sofrigam S.A. will be a prominent contributor to the International Conference on the Cold Chain (ICCC 2020) in Nantes later this month, leading the debate on sustainable cooling technologies.

Sofrigam cold chain expert Abbes Kacimi will tell the conference about thermochemical storage in temperature-controlled containers, a technology with profound environmental implications.

Essential role of cold temperatures

The COVID-19 pandemic with its emphasis on rolling out vaccines at global scale has focused new attention on the increasingly important role of maintaining low temperatures across healthcare and pharmaceutical production.

In the health sector, maintaining cold temperatures enables the safe transport and storage of pharmaceutical products and heat-sensitive medicines – particularly vaccines. Most of the innovative drugs being developed by pharmaceutical companies are based on biotechnologies and need to be stored at specific temperature ranges.Cooling is also required for many industrial processes, such as chemical and plastic products or in IT data centers, server rooms, etc..

The refrigeration sector, including air conditioning, employs more than 15m people internationally and accounts for about one fifth of the total electricity consumed worldwide.

Sustainable refrigeration

There is now international recognition of the urgent need to develop more efficient, innovative and lower environmental impact refrigeration technologies for the future.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, called for the development of sustainable cold management worldwide at a United Nations meeting in 2019, commenting: “We need all countries to develop national cold action plans to ensure effective and sustainable cold and to provide life-saving services, such as vaccines and safe food, to all. We call for concrete and strengthened actions by industry. The leadership of major global companies is essential to make this vision a reality.”

Thermochemical cooled storage

One of Sofrigam’s contributions is thermochemical cooling and storage based on solid-gas chemical sorption, a process developed by its subsidiary Coldway Technologies.

Sofrigam cold chain specialist Abbes Kacimi will deliver an oral presentation to the International Cold Chain Conference on the Coldway thermochemical system and its ability to maximize the thermal performance and qualification of a temperature-controlled container for the transport of temperature-sensitive health products. His presentation will also be available for online viewing worldwide.

Thermochemical cooling provides a high-performance and sustainable solution for the transport of products at controlled temperatures. Coldway’s active refrigerated Inside Technology storage and transport cabinets are able to maintain pharma products at between 0 and +25°C for up to 24 hours, even in extreme climatic conditions. This enablesa very durable cold chain that is fully self-contained and 100% green, with zero noise and carbon emissions and maintenance-free.

About Sofrigam

With more than 40 years of experience, Sofrigam provide a comprehensive portfolio of innovative packaging and related solutions that allow pharmaceutical and other clients to optimize their temperature-controlled logistic supply chains.

From its French roots, Sofrigam has become a global company, operating in the USA, Canada, UK and across Europe, with manufacturing centers in North America and Europe.

Sofrigam is now an international group whose four entities meet the cold chain management needs of the entire pharmaceutical supply chain, from drug production to last-mile logistics.

Sofrigam designs and develops cold chain management solutions (containers, packaging, bags and pouches) for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical manufacturers. Initially a specialist in passive packaging, Sofrigam is now moving towards innovative active technologies with its Coldway Technologies unit. The synergy between the technicality of Sofrigam packaging and the Coldway Inside technology, an autonomous thermal energy production system, represents a major innovation in cold production and storage.

For those involved in ‘last mile’ logistics and urban deliveries in the health and agri-food sectors, Coldway Technologies solution provides a disruptive refrigeration system: self-contained, eco-friendly and adaptable to any type of container or vehicle.

All the solutions proposed by the Sofrigam Group entities are tested, pre-qualified and validated by the Ater Metrology thermal testing laboratory in order to guarantee their quality and performance.

Further information at: www.sofrigam.com

About ICCC 2020

The International Conference on the Cold Chain is a biennial event focused on temperature controlled storage and shipping technologies organised by the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR).

Originally scheduled for April 15-17, the sixth ICCC will remain a three day event opening August 26 at the Cité des Congrès in Nantes, France, following previous conferences held in Cambridge, UK, (2010), Paris (2013), London (2014), Auckland, New Zealand (2016) and Beijing (2018).

The 2020 conference will focus on sustainable development of cooling technologies and cold chain shipping and storage.

Since the venue is large enough to respect social distancing in plenary areas, the conference will also be made COVID-19 safe by making face masks mandatory for all conference participants, along with provision of floor markings, hand sanitizer dispensers, and disinfection procedures in accordance with the general protocol defined for trade fairs and congresses.

Furthermore, a videoconferencing system will be set up for simultaneous remote broadcasting of presentations allowing participation without travel to France.

Further information at: https://iccc2020.sciencesconf.org/?forward-action=index&forward-controller=index&lang=en