Temptime's Freeze Indicators To Be Used On US H1N1 Vaccines

Main Category: Swine Flu
Also Included In: Flu / Cold / SARS;  Public Health;  Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 25 Aug 2009 - 21:00 PDT

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Temptime Corporation announced that its FREEZEmarker® temperature indicator has been selected for use on H1N1 vaccines scheduled to be distributed in the US later this year.

"The H1N1 vaccine, like all vaccines, is temperature sensitive. The H1N1 vaccine should not be exposed to excessive heat and it must not be frozen. The primary risk identified by the CDC for H1N1 vaccine is freezing. If a freeze event occurs, the vaccine may lose potency," said Ted Prusik, PhD, Senior Vice President responsible for scientific affairs at Temptime.

It is often difficult to determine if vaccines have been frozen and lost potency, especially if they have subsequently thawed. FREEZEmarker helps physicians and other health care providers to make this determination.

FREEZEmarker will be affixed to custom designed TransTracker® cards and placed inside multiple unit packages of H1N1 vaccine. An irreversible color change from green to white will show health care providers if a freeze event has occurred. This will allow them to decide if the product should be used to vaccinate patients or not.

"Temptime is proud to perform a vital role in support of the distribution of the H1N1 vaccine. This is the first major step to extend our work with the World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine programs where we have provided more than 3 billion time-temperature indicators over the past twelve years," said Nick Puro, President of Temptime. Temptime HEATmarker® indicators are used on the vaccines distributed through the WHO/UNICEF Extended Program on Immunization and in vaccination programs by the governments of India, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Source
Temptime Corporation

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