The Cryoport Elite® Shipping System with Mike Dybicz, Cryoport Systems’ SVP ＆ CPDO
In 2023, Cryoport Systems announced the launch of the Cryoport Elite® shipping system. This new line of shippers is the first of its kind within the life sciences industry and is recommended for transporting highly sensitive materials such as cell and gene therapies, vaccines, viral vectors, and other often irreplaceable materials. Available in both 28L and 56L, the Cryoport Elite® shipping system is scientifically engineered to mitigate risk and exceed industry hold time standards to preserve the integrity of each payload.
To learn more about the Cryoport Elite® shipping system and its use within the industry, we sat down with Mike Dybicz, Cryoport Systems’ Senior VP ＆ Chief Product Development Officer, who was instrumental in creating this new system. Mike answered six key questions about the Cryoport Elite® shipping system that highlights its unique properties, explores its niche position within the market, and details how it Enables the Outcome™ for clients.
1. How was the Cryoport Elite® shipping system conceptualized?
“A prominent gene therapy client approached Cryoport Systems’ Consulting Services team with an industry pain point they needed help navigating. This organization develops some of the most advanced therapies in the industry today, but there wasn’t a shipping system on the market they could trust to compliantly ship their therapy. Our Consulting Services team took on the challenge and worked internally with our Engineering and Product Management teams to develop a superior shipping system that could both fill the needs of this client and fill the need for a packaging solution that was designed specifically for advanced therapies and materials within the life sciences market.”
2. What are the features of the Cryoport Elite® shipping system?
“The Cryoport Elite® shipping system is the first of its kind to compliantly transport the most sensitive materials on the market like raw materials, viral vectors, and cell & gene therapies. Our teams designed the Cryoport Elite® to be a rigorous shipping system tuned to weather the complex temperature–sensitive transportation environment and capable of withstanding the hazards throughout any transportation journey. It has proprietary dual flush latches that prevent opening during transit, nested handles for easy lifting, stackability, a near real-time internal temperature monitor display that can be read without opening the shipper, integrated condition and location monitoring, and prominently, the ability to re-ice without removing or tampering with the housed commodity. For a full list of its features, you can find the information in the 28L brochure and the 56L brochure.”
3. What makes the Cryoport Elite® shipping system unique in comparison to others within the industry?
“Many organizations, such as cell and gene therapy developers, rely on disposable shippers to ship their commodities. These shippers are little more than corrugated polystyrene foam, which creates immense waste and can’t be fully trusted to weather the risks of the transport environment. They also don’t have integrated location and condition monitoring. The Cryoport Elite® is the first reusable shipping system of its caliber. The hold time exceeds industry standards to support international and challenging shipping lanes for a minimum duration of 140 hours for the 28L and 185 hours for the 56L. It has a unique payload holding system that centralizes the payload and enables 360-degree cooling without direct dry ice contact with the commodity. It’s the most rigorously and independently validated dry ice shipper in the life sciences industry and validated to multiple industry standards [ISTA 3A, ISTA 3B, ISTA 7E, ASTM D4169, IATA Cat B, IP53 Rated]. The ability to re-ice the Cryoport Elite® without tampering with the commodity is paramount to the industry because it means that our shippers can be recharged throughout a multi-leg journey without the risk of harming or accessing the invaluable material housed inside. The Cryoport Elite® provides unparalleled peace of mind within the life sciences industry compared to the current standard of disposable shippers.”
4. How can clients tailor the use of the Cryoport Elite® to fit their specific needs?
“All our systems are built to integrate with our logistics management platform, Cryoportal® 2, powered by our Smartpak II® condition monitoring system. This system provides access to 24/7/365 monitoring [condition/location], comprehensive visibility, and meticulous traceability of the entire transport process. Clients can tailor the alerts and reports to their specific needs, providing them with real-time data documentation to verify shipment and product integrity. Additionally, because of its extended hold time and stackability, the Cryoport Elite® can be used as a rechargeable storage tank if needed. We can also tailor our unique payload holding system to fit a client’s unique requirements by engaging with our world-class consulting services team.”
5. How does the addition of the Cryoport Elite® strengthen Cryoport Systems’ service offerings?
“Cryoport Systems is now able to address a part of the life sciences market that we were previously unable to serve [before the Cryoport Elite’s® conception]. The addition of the Cryoport Elite® fills a gap not only in the industry but also a gap in our product lines. We now possess a full suite of shippers for all temperature bands from room temperature to cryogenic. With this expansion, it opens the door for continued service of the advanced medicine market with the possibility to design other additional sizes of the Cryoport Elite® shipping system to fulfill client and market needs.”
6. How does the Cryoport Elite® help Cryoport Systems Enable the Outcome™ for clients?
“Cryoport Systems is committed to going above and beyond to Enable the Outcome™ for the advancing life sciences industry. The Cryoport Elite® shipping system is an extension of this commitment because of its innovative nature and one-of-a-kind design that reduces variability throughout the transport journey. It can help our clients reduce their carbon footprint, extend their reach to global markets, and support their patients by bringing certainty to their supply chain.”
For more answers to questions about the Cryoport Elite® shipping system, contact our team on our website.