Specialty Pharmacy Continuum: Gene Therapy a Hot Trend in Cold Chain

By Gina Shaw
With contributions from Allison Droba, Orsini’s Gene Therapy Operations Manager

More than 20 gene therapies are projected to be approved by the end of 2025, making it imperative that facilities have the capacity to handle these advanced therapies, which are extremely fragile and require ultra-cold-chain storage throughout their journey from manufacturer, through specialty pharmacy distribution, to patient administration.

“A growing number of advanced specialty therapies on the horizon, like cell and gene therapies, will require frozen, ultra-frozen (as low as –80° C) or cryogenic (as low as –196° C) storage,” said one industry leader in a 2023 ASHP report on preparing for the future of cold chain management. . . .