Rockwell Industries, a commercial cold chain appliance manufacturer, has entered into a strategic partnership with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), to provide its WHO PQS (World Health Organisation - Performance, Quality and Safety) certified Covid-19 vaccine freezers to enable storage of Sputnik V vaccine across India.

Mid last month, DRL announced a limited pilot soft launch of the Sputnik V vaccine in India, ahead of the commercial launch later in June.

Covid19 vaccines being sensitive, require the precise temperature to maintain its potency. The vaccine freezer plays a critical role. Sputnik V vaccine made available in India through DRL requires a temperature range of minus -18 degrees celsius, to keep the vaccine stable and potent.

The Hyderabad-based Rockwell took lead in developing the vaccine freezers as per the WHO PQS standard and after 3 years of efforts of its R&D to design a product which was tested at WHO authorized test laboratory at Denmark where its two different sizes of vaccine freezers certified. The freezer can handle various harsh usage conditions in rural locations and maintain desired temperature range, thus breaking the vaccine cold chain hurdle.

"This is a huge endorsement for our Covid-19 Vaccine Freezer. In addition, we will provide end-to-end logistics & after sales service support for the vaccine freezers across India," stated Ashok Gupta, managing director, Rockwell Industries.

Further, the company is also working closely with DRL to develop & provide wireless IoT (Internet of Things) based controllers and data loggers which can give access to real time data of temperature and performance for the vaccine freezers assuring the vaccine storage conditions in each location across the country” said Prateek Gupta, director, Rockwell Industries.