Additional Cryogenic Storage Capacity at Rockford, IL Facility

PCI Clinical Services (PCI) are pleased to announce a second phase 400 percent increase in Cyrogenic storage capabilities at our Rockford, Illinois site. The announcement follows our initial capital investment in specialist cryogenic storage in Rockford in November last year – investment that complements existing LN2 storage capability at our Bridgend site, a center of excellence for Clinical Trial services in the UK.

Our continued investment reflects its commitment to meeting the growing need of the pharmaceutical and biotech market for large-scale, high quality storage of temperature-sensitive products and breakthrough therapies. Our market-leading dual site capabilities also provide critical back-up opportunities for clients’ gene and cell therapies, cell banks and temperature-sensitive materials.

The increased storage capacity enables our clients full flexibility to meet any project configuration while maintaining product segregation and integrity. The expansion will include the installation of larger-scale specialized storage to allow more versatile storage configurations, accommodating 2 and 5 millilitre vials as well as blood bags.

We are dedicated to developing our Clinical Trial solutions for the benefit of its clients across the world. Our significant Cold Chain, Ultra-Cold Chain and Cryogenic expertise enables the organization to provide innovative temperature-managed solutions for clients, helping us to reduce risk and expense by minimizing potential logistical and technical challenges with packaging, labelling as well as storage and global distribution of medicinal products at cryogenic temperatures.

We provide a highly specialized network capability for supporting temperature-sensitive product including Ultra-Cold Chain, at temperatures ranging from Controlled Ambient 15-25°C, 2-8°C, down to -20°C, -30°C -40°C, -60°C to -90°C, and including liquid nitrogen vapour phase storage at <-140⁰C for Advanced Therapeutic Medicinal Products (ATMPs), as well as bespoke refrigerated and frozen temperatures according to client needs.

This enhanced capability at our US operations is the latest in a series of major investments in supporting Clinical Trial supply. As well as the expansion of our initial cryogenic storage facilities to the US last year, the company also extended its Bridgend site with a purpose-built and dedicated -40°C facility; introduced a broader Cold Chain capacity that increased site storage by over 400%; and continued expansion of frozen storage at -80°C. The investment in developing our North American and European specialist Clinical Trial services will support considerable further business growth in this segment.

The additional capacity is situated in the 93,000 square feet Logistics Parkway building at the PCI Rockford campus, purpose-built by us in 2015 to support Clinical Trials storage and distribution. The site is one of seven facilities at the Rockford center of excellence.

PCI’s Brian Keesee, General Manager, US Clinical Services, said: “PCI’s continued investment in Clinical Trial services ensures a robust supply chain for our clients; our dual-site set up allows highly-flexible, high-capacity storage options, giving them the maximum degree of confidence and total peace of mind that their life-saving treatments are stored safely and securely.

“We are delighted to announce the expansion of our existing Cryogenic storage facilities in the US. This additional capacity allows for more storage configurations and shows our commitment to testing and validating innovative technologies and storage capabilities to ensure they are the most effective for our clients.

“PCI has gained significant experience and specialized knowledge across the segment of gene therapies, somatic cell therapies and ATMPs over the past ten years. We have a proven track record with dry ice and nitrogen shipping and storage systems, an extensive global distribution network and expertise in handling, storage and distribution of temperature-sensitive products.”