Last year, the FDA approved the first CAR T-cell treatments—a new class of promising therapies that train the body’s immune cells to seek and destroy cancers in the blood. To work, cells have to be extracted from a patient and shipped to a pharma lab to be modified before being shipped back to the hospital for infusion through an IV. And every one of those treatments makes its cross-country journey inside liquid nitrogen-cooled containers with “Cryoport” stamped on the side.
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Refrigerated trucks and shipping containers work just fine for South American produce and farm-raised frozen seafood from Asia. But cells require a more specialized solution. They’ve got to be kept cold enough to suspend all metabolic processes. We’re talking cryogenically cold; -240 degrees Fahrenheit.
With the arrival of gene and cell-based medicines, cryogenics logistics is becoming big business. And no one is a bigger player than Cryoport.
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[T]he company’s engineers are working on new ways to design around human error completely. They recently patented a completely spherical dewar that uses gravity to constantly orient itself correctly inside a protective, crate-like matrix. Someday, these floating, frozen orbs carrying cancer cures could be riding right alongside your weekly Blue Apron order.Read full, original post: Inside the company delivering the next generation of cancer therapies
