Hoosier Companies Partner to Solve Covid-19 Vaccine Cold Chain Crisis
Indianapolis, IN and Anderson, IN – Rolls-Royce and ChefsFridge Co team up to bridge the gap in the cold chain currently challenging the global vaccination effort with the creation of ArcticRx, a passive stable long-term ultra-low temperature (ULT) pod to transport and store vaccines.
The new ArcticRx system will help bridge the gap in the cold chain currently challenging the global vaccination effort. ArcticRx is a passive, stable, long-term ultra-low temperature, reusable pod — the first of it’s kind to support a two-dose vaccine delivery regimen specifically targeting rural, remote, and international areas in support of global equitable access and to help share doses as rapidly and quickly as possible.
As COVID-19 vaccines began to roll out, gaps were found in the cold chain for transporting and storing the doses of vaccines. The issues of temperature fluctuations and challenges made national news. Current solutions are still expensive, bulky, and inaccessible to many regions without resources like electricity and ultra-low temperature storage at vaccination sites. Rolls-Royce engineers Tim Unton, Assistant Chief Design Engineer, LibertyWorks, and Eric Donovan, Senior Mechanical Engineer, LibertyWorks, were looking for a way to pitch in to the pandemic effort. They could see how current Rolls-Royce technology could be adapted to help with the challenges facing the vaccine rollout and started exploring the concept of the ArcticRx for vaccine storage. They first shared their ideas with Emerging Technologies & Innovation Lead Allen Barta. “Rolls-Royce hires people who are technically smart, and who also have a greater awareness and draw inspiration from other areas of their life. Last fall, Eric Donovan and Tim Unton came to me with an idea that doesn’t look like any of our products, potentially solving a global problem… ArcticRx isn’t even adjacent to any of our products, but we knew it had the potential to save lives across the globe.”
Realizing speed was critical to make the biggest impact, Barta needed a local partner with expertise in refrigeration and the ability to think creatively and to move swiftly. “Rolls-Royce is working to foster innovation and entrepreneurship globally and locally. We’ve created a network to share practices and ideas. When an idea comes up, we can find partners through our network. In this case, we reached out to Lisa Hoverman at HSMC Group, and she came back with ChefsFridge Co.” ChefsFridge Co, a company creating an asynchronous meal-sharing platform along with exact temperature-controlled kiosks to provide a 365/24/7 neighborhood focused food sharing platform, provides both the nimble moves of a startup along with the experience of refrigeration engineering Rolls-Royce needed to move the project forward. ChefsFridge Co-founders M. Shane Bivens and Stuart Lowry knew the partnership would work well. “From the beginning it seemed a natural fit for our creative approach with ChefsFridge Co. The passion from the team at Rolls-Royce melded seamlessly with our energy for creating a way to help with the pandemic, using the toolbox of cooling engineers, innovation, and the build-it-from-scratch approach. Shane [Bivens] and I have to solve challenges and overcome hurdles. It was not only exciting, but possibly revolutionary in terms of solving this vital cold chain issue” said Stuart Lowry.
With the urgent need to transport and store vaccines in stable ultra-low temperatures, the team got to work. They picked up additional talent from Rolls-Royce Quinlan Schuck Materials Specialist Joining Processes / Additive Manufacturing to create additional components. Within weeks of ideation, team members constructed a prototype pod for testing. “We had a theory, but once we built the prototype, the data on stability in temperature was even better than we had predicted in our models,” said Tim Unton of Rolls-Royce after the first beta tests.
The ArcticRx is reusable, lightweight, and does not require electricity to maintain stable ultra-low temperatures required for mRNA vaccines. Most current shipping coolers are only able to carry one of two rounds of doses at a time, causing logistics and sustainability issues. ArcticRx is the first passive system to ship and store both rounds of two-dose vaccines. ArcticRx can deliver stable ultra-low temperatures beyond 21 days, which is more than four times the average cooling life of current vaccine coolers. ArcticRx can be refilled with additional cooling materials, enhancing its capabilities for areas without access to electricity or resources. This means there is potential for a single pod to be used for transport and storage to fully vaccinate a local population. According to Barta, “Anywhere in the world is now within reach with the ArcticRx.”
The ArcticRx prototypes are undergoing testing at the Rolls-Royce headquarters in Indianapolis, IN. With successful results on the books, moves to market are imminent. According to M. Shane Bivens, co-founder of ChefsFridge Co., “People think the problem is over, but we’re not even close. Initially, we’re looking at immediate global challenges that need to be met. The possibilities from this point are enormous for both solving this current pandemic and shipping and storing other vital medical supplies. There are so many life improving medications pharma leaves on the shelf because stable cold chain transportation for extended time periods does not exist to move their product around the globe.” With only 17.4% of the world’s population currently vaccinated, and with more Covid-19 variants accelerating record case numbers, the all Hoosier ArcticRx team is working to solve the cold chain issue facing so many communities across the globe to ensure access in even the most remote regions. With three proven models in hand and the ability to scale quickly with funding, ChefsFridge Co. is currently seeking investment and manufacturing partners as the team moves forward to market.
About ChefsFridge Co
ChefsFridge Co. is implementing asynchronous food sharing technologies and processes to strengthen local food economies, enhance food access, and minimize food waste. By creating advancements in access controlled stable multi-temperature kiosks and whiz-bang software; we aim to spread food equity and bring the story of our communities to life, one recipe at a time. ArticRx as a product of ChefsFridge Co. is the primary focus of the team today. Reach out to the team via email inquiry(at)arcticrx.com
The original ArcticRx design team 
Probe confirms stable temperature for 21+ days 
Team members monitoring probe 
ArcticRx+ prototype (plastics) 
ArcticRx prototype (wooden) 
ArcticRx team first in person discussion 
ArcticRx team first in person discussion 
ArcticRx team with 1st prototype 
Safety when testing alternative cooling methods
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