Global Good and AUCMA announced on Tuesday that they will partner to manufacture and distribute AUCMA’s refrigeration device to help end mortality by vaccine-preventable diseases in underserved regions in the developing world.
The refrigeration unit, first presented by Intellectual Ventures CEO Nathan Myhrvold at TED 2010, can keep vaccines at the recommended temperature for more than one month by using a single batch of ice with no external power supply. The device can hold 300 doses of vaccines, enough to supply a village of 6,000 people for a month.
This innovation will help overcome a problem many developing nations and rural areas face: lack of electricity or means by which to store temperature-sensitive vaccines. The World Health Organization estimates that more than one million children die annually due to vaccine-preventable diseases.
“Forward-looking commercial partners like AUCMA play a vital role in Global Good’s mission to improve life in developing countries through the power of invention,” Vice President of Global Good at Intellectual Ventures Maurizio Vecchione said. “AUCMA has the expertise and scalability needed to help this device extend the vaccine supply chain in even the remotest parts of the world, and do so at the lowest cost-per-fully-immunized-child possible. Thanks to them, Global Good’s vaccine storage device will make a tangible impact on the lives of people in developing countries.”
The partnership will also be exploring the creation of new inventions to better support the vaccine supply chain.
Source: Vaccine News daily
