What Is Pharmaceutical Cold Chain Monitoring and How Can Identiv Help?

January 15, 2021

As global healthcare systems continue rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine, much attention has been paid to the "cold chain” and for good reason. Per a report on the $76 billion global pharmaceutical logistics delivery market, over 30% of deliveries reach their destination with some degree of damage or spoilage; a staggering statistic considering that there’s an increasing number of medicines being biologically engineered for a temperature-controlled supply chain.

What Is Pharmaceutical Cold Chain Monitoring?

Cold Chain Monitoring and Vaccine Efficacy

Recently, some COVID vaccine shipments have even been delayed due to temperature control issues. The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is especially finicky: it must be kept at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit before thawing. The Moderna vaccine is less exacting and must be kept at about minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit before thawing. To ensure their efficacy is retained, there is growing need for a solution that ensures fragile vaccines and other pharmaceutical medicines are kept at the right temperatures.

Luckily, there is a solution: smart technology that allows for real-time tracking and storage of temperature readings is the answer to making the supply chain seamless.

Smart IoT Temperature Tracking

That’s exactly why Identiv created its uTrust Sense Temperature Tracker, a compact, near field communication (NFC) smart sensor that tracks and stores temperature readings. This Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled datalogger empowers businesses by providing a low-cost, self-adhesive temperature monitoring solution designed for the supply chain industry, healthcare and pharmaceutical markets, government applications, and smart packaging.

 

Monitor the Cold Chain from Anywhere

uTrust Sense contains a precise temperature sensor, digital storage, flexible battery, and NFC tag, allowing it to communicate with local devices using a mobile device or industrial equipment app. The current temperature status and complete logged history can be reviewed locally or uploaded to the cloud — a major plus in today’s increasingly digital world. This innovative solution is secured by a state-of-the-art cryptographic algorithm to protect the integrity of each temperature measurement and the record transmission to the cloud platform is secured to prevent unauthorized entities from altering measurements. If you’re required to implement a cold chain distribution process, or if you need proof of conformance in your custody chain, Identiv’s uTrust Sense Temperature Tracker solution provides you with the tools to make it happen.