Pluss Advanced Technologies
Celsure® Boxes: Supply Chain Solution for Temperature-Sensitive Medical Supplies
IMPACT
80,000
Celsure® boxes deployed
2X
increase in the production capacity for Celsure® boxes
Geographical Focus
- PAN India
Samit Jain CEO, Pluss Advanced Technologies
It is an honor to support our country’s response to the pandemic. The innovative temperature-controlled Celsure® containers have been developed indigenously and are low cost. The support from SAMRIDH enabled us to supply COVID-19 vaccines to remote communities quickly, and without any loss in transit.
Samridh support
SAMRIDH provided financial support to PLUSS Advanced Technologies’ to double its manufacturing capacity of Celsure® boxes, from 3,000 to 6,000 packs per month. This expansion was crucial for meeting the heightened demand for supply chain solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. It facilitated the distribution of temperature-sensitive medical supplies, such as COVID-19 test kits, drugs, and vaccines, to remote locations where maintaining appropriate cold-chain conditions is challenging. Furthermore, SAMRIDH’s support led to additional capital raise by PLUSS in the form of equity.
20%
Of India’s temperature-sensitive healthcare products are damaged or degraded due to insufficient cold chains [1]
76%
Of vaccine vials tested indicated signs of freezing [2]
During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the number of infected cases spiked exponentially, highlighting the urgent need for universal vaccination as the ultimate solution. While vaccines were manufactured at accelerated speeds, administering them to the eligible adult population across the country was an insurmountable challenge. Most COVID-19 vaccines in India require cold storage, and any lapse in temperature control during transport or storage can compromise their potency. Given India’s inadequate infrastructure to meet these requirements, there was an urgent need to strengthen India’s cold chain management to achieve the national goal of universal vaccine coverage.
[1] Mishra, Ck. 2022. “Improving cold chain systems.” The Hindu. May 17, 2022.
[2] Murhekar, M. V., Dutta, S., Kapoor, A. N., Bitragunta, S., Dodum, R., Ghosh, P., Swamy, K. K., Mukhopadhyay, K., Ningombam, S., Parmar, K., Ravishankar, D., Singh, B., Singh, V.,Sisodiya, R., Subramanian, R., & Takum, T. (2013). “Frequent exposure to suboptimal temperatures in vaccine cold-chain system in India.” PubMed Central. Sep 09, 2013
PLUSS provides Celsure® boxes that maintain precise temperatures between 2 and 8°C, 15 and 25°C, and -20°C, for up to five days without electricity. These containers utilize ‘Phase Change Materials’ for thermal energy storage, maintaining the inside temperature at desired levels for up to 120 hours. The innovation enhances operational and cost efficiency in transporting temperature-sensitive products. Celsure® containers are utilized by pharmaceutical, diagnostics, and biotech companies to pack and transport drugs, vaccines, test kits, clinical trial samples and other products requiring a constant temperature to maintain efficacy. PLUSS’s Celsure® range of Temperature Controlled shipping solution for pharmaceutical received the Government of India’s Technology Day award for 2021.