SkyCell has transported 2.5 tons of a life-saving drug to treat patients suffering from copper poisoning from London to the Iraqi city of Baghdad.
The pharma container company worked as part of a joint project with the Iraqi Ministry of Health, and the new investigational drug was delivered door-to-door to a hospital in SkyCell containers.
In Iraq, copper poisoning is a widespread problem due to the burning of electronic waste and plastics. An overdose of copper disturbs mental function, irritates the nerves and nervous system leading to many inflammatory conditions, such as skin irritations, asthma, and depression.
SkyCell chief executive officer, Richard Ettl said: “We are very proud to have contributed with our technology to this humanitarian effort as part of the ongoing struggle to rebuild this war-torn country.”
The shipment had a value of $6.8 million and was highly temperature sensitive. The experimental pharmaceutical required a fully controlled cold chain services with an unbroken temperature environment between two to eight degrees Celsius.
Any temperature deviations would result in the shipment becoming unusable. In addition to that, security requirements at Baghdad Airport demand all shipments to be X-rayed, which would result in the cold chain to be broken.
SkyCell co-founder and CTO, Nico Ross said the SkyCell 1500C units became the “containers-of-choice”, due to their “innovative design and passive cooling system” not only guarantee the required temperature range, but also allow X-ray-examination without breaking the official seals.
