Before Panasonic could imagine the thermal containers designed specifically for transportation at the ultracking temperature of vaccines from the Covid-19, as European and American logistics companies filled it with requests with a request to provide them for testing.

The government of Japan, which is subjected to public criticism due to the slow pace of preparation for mass vaccination, is preparing to start it only at the end of February. Panasonic, meanwhile, joined the product development race for a fast -growing global business to store vaccines. “Although the distribution of the vaccine in the world has already begun, there is a serious shortage of thermal appliances,” said Panasonic in an interview with Financial Times, the chief engineer of the Panasonic household appliance. “We received many requests from different countries, including Japan, USA, Singapore, France, South Korea and China.”

The Panasonic technology has adapted the Kojima unit to maintain energy in the refrigerators to create a portable container that can be used to transport vaccines and other materials at a temperature of minus 70 ° C. Two types of containers are created, more than a 120-liter box where 5000 doses of vaccines at ultra-low temperature for 18 days. Vaccines are packed with 34 kg of dry ice.

The company developed a similar product in 2019, but in December, the Kojima unit launched a new project to improve storage conditions in accordance with the unique requirements for vaccines against Covid-19. Thanks to the improvement of boxing, it is now possible to use the vaccine developed by the Pfizer and the German BionTech, when transporting which is required by minus 70 ° C. Last week, the Japanese government concluded a Pfizer transaction for 144 million doses of vaccine, which are enough for vaccination of about half the country's population.

Since the end of March, Panasonic plans to provide samples of its thermal appliances called Vixell pharmaceutical and logistics companies. Soon after, she will begin to sell them and leasing them. The company has not yet disclosed plans for prices and scale of production. But Kojima says that Panasonic will begin with the release of several thousand containers per year and can increase the power depending on demand.

Since Panasonic introduced the technology on Thursday, its shares have grown by 8.4%, which reflects the high interest of investors in the storage of vaccines. In the short term, the sales of containers planned by the company is unlikely to greatly affect its profit. But Panasonic has considerable experience in the field of cooling and freezing technologies, and also owns the PHC Holdings minority package of shares - its former medical unit and a large participant in vaccines storage (the KKR direct storage control package owns the KKR direct investment fund).

According to the American research company Grand View Research, the global storage and packaging market of vaccines will grow from $ 22.3 billion in 2020 to $ 43.3 billion by 2027, the largest revenue will bring just storage. Other key players in the market of medical thermal containers are Thermo Fisher Scientific from the USA and Chinese Haier household appliances.

Kodzima says that in addition to transportation of vaccines, containers can be used to store other medications, as well as semiconductor materials requiring strict temperature control. “We will study the market reaction and decide how to expand this business,” he said.

Translated by Victor Davydov

The new Panasonic vaccine thermoconer is perceived with a bang