Stirling Ultracold & Catalent Announce Partnership to Establish Energy-Efficient Cold Chain Capabilities for Biologics & Emerging Modalities

Catalent and Stirling Ultracold recently announced a partnership whereby Stirling Ultracold becomes the preferred provider of ULT storage across Catalent’s multiple business units.

The growth of biopharmaceuticals and newer modalities within pharmaceutical research and development has driven the need for Catalent to invest in a sustainable and reliable cold chain infrastructure, to ensure the preservation of biological and other highly temperature-sensitive materials. The partnership with Stirling Ultracold has already seen the delivery and installation of over 200 state-of-the-art freezers, with a further 60 planned, into Catalent’s clinical supply services and cell and gene therapy sites in the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Accommodating a wide temperature range from minus 20 degrees Celsius to minus 86 degrees Celsius, Stirling freezers use 100% natural refrigerants, and during a typical ten-year lifespan, they will produce around 30% of the carbon dioxide during operation compared with legacy ULT freezers.

“The growth of precision medicine makes an effective ultra-low temperature infrastructure a necessity for companies partnering with innovators,” said Dusty Tenney, Chief Executive Officer of Stirling Ultracold. “The infrastructure we have created with Catalent, which it is deploying across its network, will facilitate the safe storage and handling of novel treatments, including personalized medicines for rare diseases, many of which have the potential to be life-saving or life-changing for patients.”

“Catalent is focused on providing safe, reliable product supply, and has responded to the rapid growth in new therapeutic modalities such as cell and gene therapies with solutions and capacity to match the significant demand for these therapies,” commented Matt Blume, Vice President, Business Transformation for Catalent’s Clinical Supply Services. “Stirling Ultracold freezers provide the widest flexibility and best-in-class quality to support the needs of our business, and also offer superior environmental sustainability benefits, which align to Catalent’s published corporate responsibility goals and environmental impact targets.”

 Stirling Ultracold, a division of Global Cooling, Inc., manufactures and sells environmentally sustainable ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers for the global market from its headquarters in Athens, OH. Powered by the free-piston Stirling engine, and the first in the US to use 100% natural refrigerants, these upright and undercounter ULT freezers use less than one-third the electric power of standard compressor-based ULT freezers, as validated by the industry’s first ENERGY STAR partnership for ULT freezers. The company also produces the industry’s only portable ULT solution available for remote clinical trials and biologic drug delivery. For more information, visit  www.StirlingUltracold.com.

 Catalent is the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products. With over 85 years serving the industry, Catalent has proven expertise in bringing more customer products to market faster, enhancing product performance and ensuring reliable global clinical and commercial product supply. Catalent employs over 15,000 people, including approximately 2,400 scientists and technicians, at more than 45 facilities, and in fiscal year 2020 generated over $3 billion in annual revenue. Catalent is headquartered in Somerset, NJ. For more information, visit www.catalent.com.