What are Cryoport Inc's Business Segments?
Cryoport Express® Solutions
Our Cryoport Express® Solutions are currently made up primarily of the Cryoportal™
software platform, Cryoport Express® Shippers, Cryoport Express® SmartPak
condition monitoring systems and our life sciences cold chain logistics expertise.
Cryoport Express® Solutions are focused on improving the reliability of frozen
shipping while reducing our clients’ overall operating costs. This is accomplished
by providing complete end-to-end solutions for the transport and monitoring of
frozen or cryogenically preserved biological or other materials shipped primarily
through distribution partners, such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL, and specialty couriers.
The information technology is centered on a cryogenic logistics operating platform
called the Cryoportal™. The Cryoportal™ is a cloud-based cryogenic
logistics operating platform. Among its functions, the Cryoportal™ programmatically
assists in the management of all aspects of the logistics operations beginning
with order entry and continuing to monitor, log data, track shipments and store
vital information. The Cryoportal™ is capable of producing a variety of
Cryoport Express® Analytics which report shipment performance metrics and
evaluates temperature-monitoring and other data collected by the Cryoport Express®
SmartPak during shipment.
Cryoport Express® Solutions are focused on improving the reliability of cryogenic
logistics while reducing our clients’ overall operating costs. This is accomplished
by providing tailored and complete end-to-end solutions for cryogenic logistics
requirements including management, transport, monitoring and data collection regarding
frozen/cryogenically preserved biological commodities or pharmaceutical materials
shipped primarily though integrators and Cryoport’s logistics network which
includes specialty couriers, brokers and other intermediaries. Certain of the
intellectual property underlying our Cryoport Express® Solutions, other than
that related to the Cryoport Express® Shippers, have been, and continue to
be, developed under a contract with an outside software development company, with
the underlying technology licensed to Cryoport for exclusive use in our field
of use.
Cryoportal™
The Cryoportal™ is used by Cryoport, our clients and business partners to
automate the entry of orders, prepare customs documentation and to facilitate
status and location monitoring of shipped orders while in transit. It is used
by Cryoport to assist in managing logistics operations and to reduce administrative
costs typically provisioned through manual labor relating to order-entry, order
processing, preparation of shipping documents and back-office accounting. It is
also used to support the high level of customer service expected by the industry.
Certain features of the Cryoportal™ reduce operating costs and facilitate
the scaling of Cryoport’s business, but more importantly they offer significant
value to the customer in terms of cost avoidance and risk mitigation. Examples
of these features include automation of order entry, development of Key Performance
Indicators (“KPI’s”) to support our efforts for continuous process
improvements in our business, and programmatic exception monitoring to detect
and sometimes anticipate delays in the shipping process, often before the customer
or the shipping company becomes aware of them.
The Cryoportal™ also serves as the communications center for the management,
collection and analysis of SmartPak data collected from SmartPak condition monitoring
system in the field. Data is converted into pre-designed reports containing valuable
and often actionable information that becomes the quality control standard or
“pedigree” of the shipment. This information can be utilized by Cryoport
to provide valuable feedback to our clients relating to their shipments.
The Cryoportal™ software platform has been developed as a “carrier-agnostic”
system, allowing the client and the Cryoport Client Care team to work with a single
or multiple integrators, freight forwarders, couriers and/or brokers depending
on the specific requirements and client preferences. To increase operational efficiencies,
Cryoportal™ has already been integrated with the tracking systems of FedEx,
DHL and UPS and we plan to integrate it with other key logistics providers.
The Cryoportal™ was developed for time- and temperature-sensitive shipments
that are required to be maintained at specific temperatures, such as ambient (between
20° and 25° Celsius), chilled (between 2° and 8° Celsius) or frozen
(minus 10° Celsius or less all the way down to cryogenic temperatures (minus
150°C) to ensure that the shipped specimen is not subject to degradation or
out of its designated “safe” range. While our current focus is on
cryogenic logistics within the life sciences industry using the logistics solutions
described herein, the use of the Cryoportal™ can and may be extended into
other temperature ranges of the cold chain.
To our knowledge, the Cryoportal™ software platform is unique to cold chain
logistics in the life sciences industry. It is robust and has considerable capabilities.
We frequently are complimented about the Cryoportal™ and our strategic alliance
partners chose to license the Cryoportal™ rather than attempt to duplicate
its features in their logistics management software. We have engineered in a way
that gives us the ability to offer the “powered by CryoportSM” strategy
to our strategic alliance partners.
The Cryoport Express® Shippers
Our Cryoport Express® Shippers are cryogenic dry vapor shippers capable of
maintaining cryogenic temperatures of minus 150° Celsius or below for a dynamic
shipping period of 10 or more days. A dry vapor cryogenic shipper is a device
that uses liquid nitrogen contained inside a vacuum insulated vessel which serves
as a refrigerant to provide stable storage temperatures below minus 150° Celsius.
Our Cryoport Express® Shippers are designed to ensure that there is no pressure
build up as the liquid nitrogen evaporates. We have developed a proprietary retention
system to ensure that liquid nitrogen stays inside the vacuum container, which
allows the shipper to be designated as a dry vapor shipper meeting IATA requirements.
Biological or pharmaceutical specimens are stored in a specimen chamber, referred
to as a “well” inside the container and refrigeration is provided
by gas evolving from the liquid nitrogen entrapped within the proprietary retention
system. Specimens that may be transported using our cryogenic shipper include:
live cells, scientific or pharmaceutical commodities such as cancer vaccines,
diagnostic materials, semen, eggs, embryos, infectious substances, and other commodities
that require continuous exposure to frozen/cryogenic temperatures, i.e., temperatures
below minus 150° Celsius.
An important feature of our Cryoport Express® Shippers, except for the newly
introduced Cryoport Express® CXVC1 Shipper, is their compliance with the stringent
packaging requirements of IATA Packing Instructions 602 and 650, respectively.
These specifications include meeting internal pressure (hydraulic) and drop performance
requirements. Under IATA guidelines, Cryoport Express® Shippers are classified
as “Non-hazardous.” Dry ice and liquid nitrogen are classified as
“Dangerous Goods.” Our shippers are also in compliance with International
Civil Aviation Organization (“ICAO”) regulations that prohibit egress
of liquid nitrogen residue from the shipping packages. The ICAO is a United Nations
organization that develops regulations for the safe transport of dangerous goods
by air.
We currently offer three sizes of dry vapor shippers, the Cryoport Express®
Standard Shipper with a storage capacity of up to 75 2.0 ml vials, the Cryoport
Express® High Volume Shipper, which has a storage capacity of up to 500 2.0
ml vials, and the Cryoport Express® CXVC1 Shipper, introduced in August 2014,
which has a storage capacity of up to 1,500 2.0 ml vials. Our Cryoport Express®
Shippers are composed of an aluminum (aircraft-grade) dewar flask, containing
a well for holding the high value biological or other materials in its inner chamber
and our proprietary retention foam that absorbs the liquid nitrogen placed in
the shipper to provide it with its extreme cold temperature. The dewar flask is
vacuum insulated to limit the transmission of heat from outside the flask to the
liquid nitrogen captured within the absorption foam and the well.
Cryoport Express® Standard Shippers
The Cryoport Express® Standard Shippers are lightweight, low-cost, re-usable
dry vapor liquid nitrogen storage containers that, we believe, combine the best
features of life sciences packaging, cryogenics science and vacuum insulation
technology. A Cryoport Express® Standard Shipper is composed of an aluminum
metallic dewar flask, with a well for holding the biological material in the inner
chamber. The dewar vessel is a device in which the conduction, convection and
radiation of heat are reduced as much as possible giving it the capability of
maintaining its contents at a near-constant temperature over relatively long periods
of time. The inner chamber of the shipper is surrounded by a high surface, low-density
material which retains the liquid nitrogen in-situ by absorption, adsorption,
and surface tension. Absorption is defined as the taking up of matter in bulk
by other matter, as in the dissolving of a gas by a liquid, whereas adsorption
is the surface retention of solid, liquid or gas molecules, atoms or ions by a
solid or liquid. This material absorbs liquid nitrogen several times faster than
currently used materials, while providing the shipper with a hold time and capacity
to transport biological materials safely and conveniently. The annular space between
the inner and outer dewar walls is evacuated to a very high vacuum (10-6 Torr).
The specimen-holding chamber has a primary cap to enclose the specimens/commodities,
and a removable and replaceable secondary cap to further enclose the specimen/commodity-holding
container and to contain the liquid nitrogen dry vapor. The entire dewar vessel
is then wrapped in a plurality of insulating and cushioning materials and placed
in a disposable outer packaging made of recyclable material. The Cryoport Express®
Standard Shippers has a storage capacity of up to 75 2.0 ml vials.
Cryoport Express® High Volume Shippers
The Cryoport Express® High Volume Shipper also uses a dry vapor liquid nitrogen
(LN2) technology to maintain minus 150°C temperatures with a dynamic shipping
endurance of 10 days. The Cryoport Express® High Volume Shipper is based on
the same dry vapor technology as Cryoport’s original standard dry shipper
and utilizes an absorbent material to hold LN2, thus providing the extended endurance
time and IATA validation as a non-hazardous shipping container. The high volume
dry shipper is reusable and recyclable, making it a highly sustainable and cost
effective method of transporting life science materials. The Cryoport Express®
High Volume Shipper has a storage capacity of up to 500 2.0 ml vials.
Cryoport Express® CXVC1 Shippers
The Cryoport Express® CXVC1 Shipper is our largest shipper and can be used
either as a dry vapor shipper or a liquid shipper. It is designed to focus on
vaccine ampoules or cryovial shipments in canisters. In the case of dry vapor
liquid nitrogen (LN2), it maintains minus 150°C temperatures with a dynamic
shipping endurance of 20 days. In the case of liquid nitrogen (LN2), it maintains
minus 150°C temperatures with a shipping endurance of 72 days. The Cryoport
Express® CXVC1 Shipper, in dry vapor form, is based on the same technology
as Cryoport’s original standard dry shipper and utilizes an absorbent material
to hold LN2, thus providing the extended endurance time and IATA validation as
a non-hazardous shipping container. The Cryoport Express® CXVC1 Shipper, in
liquid form, is a ‘wet’ dewar with all the characteristics attendant
to a wet dewar and with a holding time of 72 days. The Cryoport Express® CXVC1
Shipper is reusable and recyclable, making it a highly sustainable and cost effective
method of transporting life science materials. As a point of reference, the Cryoport
Express® CXVC1 Shipper has a storage capacity of up to 1,500 0.2 ml vials.
Cryoport Express® Shipper Summary
We believe Cryoport Express® Solutions are the best and most cost effective
solution available in the biotechnology and life sciences markets and satisfy
customer needs and scientific and regulatory requirements relating to the shipment
of time- and temperature-critical, frozen and refrigerated transport of biological
materials, such as stem cells, cell lines, pharmaceutical clinical trial samples,
gene biotechnology, infectious materials handling, animal and human reproduction
markets. Due to our proprietary technology and innovative design, our shippers
are less prone to losing functional hold time when not kept in an upright position
than the competing products because our proprietary dry vapor technology and innovative
design prevent the spilling or leakage of the liquid nitrogen when the container
is tipped or on its side which would otherwise adversely affect the functional
hold time of the shipper.
The Cryoport Express® SmartPak Condition Monitoring System
Condition monitoring is a high-value feature from our client’s perspective
as it is an effective and reliable method to determine that the shipment materials
were not damaged and did not experience degradation during shipment due to temperature
fluctuations. Our current standard SmartPak System consists of a self-contained
automated data logger and thermocouple capable of recording cryogenic temperatures
of samples shipped in our Cryoport Express® Shippers. The data-logging temperature
probe is positioned within the shipper to record the most accurate reading. The
resultant temperature mapping includes both the temperature inside the chamber
(which is closest to the actual biomaterial) and the external temperature. This
reading, combined with the mapping of shipment check-in points, can provide a
holistic view of the complete shipping process.
We recently developed the SmartPak II™ Condition Monitoring System, which
is currently in beta testing and is scheduled to be launched during the second
quarter of fiscal year 2017. The SmartPak II™ Condition Monitoring System
tracks the key aspects of each shipment that could affect the quality and/or timing
of delivery of the material to its intended destination. This includes real-time
tracking using GPS, cellular and Wi-Fi triangulation, monitoring of internal and
external temperatures, pressure, shock, orientation of the shipper, as well as
light, as a measure of security breaches, compromised packaging or shipper openings
during transit. This advanced condition monitoring system is engineered to work
in tandem with Cryoport's logistics management platform, the Cryoportal™,
enabling predictive and proactive monitoring of materials shipped. At the client’s
election, shipments can have a full chain-of-custody and chain-of- condition with
data monitoring, analysis, archival storage available for every shipment.
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