Marietta, Ohio, May 13, 2011 – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the PharmaPort 360™ temperature controlled shipping container developed and manufactured by Cool Containers, LLC for use in commercial and military air transport. The announcement was made in a joint statement by Lew Rosenblum, CEO of Cool Containers and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH). The FAA airworthiness certification follows over 1½ years of formal testing and review of design, systems integration, manufacturing practices and documentation.
"We are particularly grateful to Senator Sherrod Brown and then Congressman Charlie Wilson for the help they gave us in navigating through the government procedures associated with meeting the thorough FAA regulations for air transport of active cargo”, said Rosenblum. “The process gave us a much deeper understanding of the role the FAA plays in ensuring that our skies are safe for travel."
According to Senator Brown,"Cool Containers is the latest example of an innovative Ohio small business creating new jobs . When Cool Containers presented their concept to transport temperature sensitive materials around the globe, I was proud to help them through the red tape and get them on the path to job creation and business development. This is further proof that when private and public sectors work together, we can see amazing results."
Designed for shipment of high value pharmaceuticals and other temperature sensitive materials that require cold-chain custody in the logistics plan, the PharmaPort 360™ is configured for use with standard NAS air cargo pallets in single or dual configurations. The container maintains an internal temperature of 5°C in extreme ambient from 60°C to -40°C in both transport mode and a charge (ground) mode to assure safe, door-to-door transport of vaccines and biologicals for optimum viability of contents upon arrival. It transitions easily through standard international logistic systems including air, sea and highway permitting common carriers to offer precision temperature controlled service in a self-contained modular unit with four-sided forklift access and a payload weight of 1200 lbs (544 kg).
The PharmaPort™ 360 uses a proprietary temperature control system developed by Farrar Scientific, LLC. that meets or exceeds guidelines of the World Health Organization for Cold Chain Storage and Distribution. When in flight the PharmaPort™ 360 operates independently of the aircraft, requires no external system power and generates no heat or hazardous vapors. A self-contained, non-invasive regenerative heat exchanger avoids HAZMAT costs associated with dry ice; it uses no CO2 or LN2 and eliminates the need for a refrigerated truck. Between uses the container is connected to a standard AC power supply for charging before being deployed for fixed-based storage, ground, sea or air transport.
A comprehensive data acquisition system operates continuously during charge and transport modes. A combination of control, alarm and monitoring technology supports proof-of-performance requirements in compliance with FDA 21 CFR 11 with available OQ/PQ documentation. A global GPS tracking database permits 24/7 retrieval, analysis and sharing of all system information en route.