Cold Chain Technologies (CCT) has helped a global biopharma customer redesign its temperature-controlled shipping strategy, moving from a legacy dry ice-based approach to a right-sized, data-led system that supports sustainability, without compromising performance, patient experience or operational efficiency.

The customer faced a common but critical challenge: its legacy packaging relied on dry ice and EPS, a combination that protected product effectively but created significant drawbacks across the supply chain. Handling dry ice introduced safety and regulatory burdens, EPS was difficult to recover at scale, and the overall pack format was not well aligned to actual ordering patterns.

Rather than treating this as a simple material substitution exercise, CCT applied its expertise in thermal assurance – combining packaging design, refrigerant selection, material evaluation and lifecycle analysis – to solve the broader customer challenge.

The work began with a detailed review of shipment behavior and operational pain points. Order-pattern analysis showed that 56% of shipments contained three cartons or fewer, while many customers ordered in predictable multiples. CCT used that data to help redefine the pack architecture around real demand, creating a more effective size strategy for XS, SM and MD shipments. This right-sizing approach reduced unused space, improved freight efficiency and lowered material consumption.

From there, CCT evaluated alternative insulation and refrigerant systems using a practical set of criteria: thermal performance, operational usability, customer disposal experience, recyclability and wider environmental impact. A key area of focus was reducing reliance on dry ice, which added complexity in warehousing and fulfilment and posed well-known handling risks.

The resulting solution combined a paper-based thermal packaging format with a curbside-recyclable water-based refrigerant carton, replacing more traditional cold chain components with a design best suited to both customer use and sustainability goals. CCT’s capabilities in thermal engineering and package development helped ensure that the new configuration could maintain required temperature protection while supporting a lighter footprint and more user-friendly design.

CCT also helped validate the concept through lifecycle assessment (LCA), which showed that the paper-based carton had the lowest environmental impact among the options reviewed, and that water-based refrigerant systems outperformed dry ice-based alternatives on a sustainability basis. Just as important, the disposal process became far simpler for end users: instead of managing difficult materials or specialized waste streams, users could empty the refrigerant as directed and place the packaging into standard paper recycling channels.

Christopher McLaughlin, Senior Global Marketing Manager at Cold Chain Technologies, said: “The final result shows how there is never a one-size-fits-all solution to pharmaceutical cold chain challenges. Our customer gained a more sustainable shipper, a better fit to its real shipment profiles, reduced dependence on hazardous materials, as well a simpler end-user experience. For CCT, we’re delighted to have been able to demonstrate the value of bringing together right-size packaging design, refrigerant innovation, thermal engineering and environmental assessment to solve complex life sciences distribution challenges.”