Samit Jain, MD, Pluss Advanced Technologies, talks about the company’s innovative product offerings for pharma logistics, in conversation with Mansha Gagneja
The vision of PLUSS is creating innovations, how have you been strategising to achieve it and what are your plans for the future?
Creating Impactful Innovations – is how we define our vision. It is simple and straightforward thereby easy to remember for each one in our team. To successfully create innovative products, we need to first ensure that the entire team is in sync with our vision – we work hard on developing the person and helping the R&D team members work collaboratively with the Marketing team members to create what the customer needs and incorporate design thinking into our processes. In today’s age, distractions are easy and that is the biggest hindrance to thinking and innovation – we guide our team members to overcome this and focus on thinking to be able to find innovative and low cost solutions. We hope to create one new product each year that would try and address the challenges that countries like India face with a focus on clean energy and access to energy.
Could you brief us about the new launch CELSURE?
Vaccine delivery is a challenge. WHO data says that over 30 per cent of vaccines and pharma products are often wasted because of the lack of temperature control. Infact people don’t realise that vaccines should never go below 20 C – and the industry today conveniently uses ice packs to transport – especially the last mile delivery. It should not cross 8o C either. Insulin, when open should be stored between 15o C and 25o C and when closed should be between 2 and 8o C. There are no laws to enforce this and ignorance of the consumer is the saviour for the industry. At PLUSS, we recently launched two products – CELSURE for the pharma and logistics companies that can use our box and transport these products at the right temperature for 96 hours and beyond at the tropical temperatures that countries like India, South East Asia and Africa have. PronGO was launched for the insulin segment for home use. It allows the consumer to keep the Insulin at the right temperature for 8 to 15 hours.
Elaborate on the application of Phase Change Materials in the pharma industry and how are you facilitating it?
Pharma products typically require three temperature ranges for storage and transport:
-15 to -25o C 2 to 8o C +15 to + 25o C.
In the negative temperature range, the standard method is to use dry ice; in the two to eight range companies resort to ice packs and for 15 to 25 the solution is found using cold water or a combination of cold water and ice. Each of these methods have the biggest drawback that the temperatures are not precisely maintained in the range. Phase Change Materials (PCM) are materials that store energy at a particular temperature. So, we have a -23oC PCM that melts above -23oC (say around -20oC) and thereby maintains the temperature in the range of -15 to -25o. Similarly a +21o PCM is used to maintain the controlled room temperature of +15o C to +25o C. PCMs provide better control on the temperature thereby preventing medicine spoilage. Pluss today is supplying its PCMs to European and American pharma industry and logistics players to create solutions using its savE Advanced PCM range.
What are the other products your company offers for pharma industry?
At PLUSS, we recently launched two products — CELSURE for the pharma and logistics companies that can use our box and transport these products at the right temperature for 96 hours and beyond at the tropical temperatures that countries like India, SE Asia and Africa have. PronGO was launched for the insulin segment for home use. It allows the consumer to keep insulin at the right temperature for eight to 15 hours.
Today, Pluss supplies its PCMs to the European and American pharma industries and logistics players to create solutions using its savE Advanced PCM range.
Who are your clientele and which products are they using?
The Celsure box has been approved by logistics players such as Blue Dart and DHL for pharma transport. Pluss is today working with all major pharma and vaccine manufacturers in India to educate and grow its market share. Outside India, Pluss is supplying to pharma players in the US and France currently for manufacturing boxes that can guarantee the right temperature.
In the retail segment, we have listed our PronGO bag for insulin on Amazon and we see good traction there. Individuals now have access to the right technology to ensure their insulin transport and storage is at the right temperature!