Versatile, cost-effective and easy-to-use, Tinytag data loggers have proved to be the ideal solution for a pharmaceutical wholesaler seeking to accurately monitor walk-in fridges and cold storage warehouses where valuable pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, are stored prior to distribution.

Alliance Healthcare (Distribution) Ltd. is a UK pharmaceutical wholesaler who operate out of a number of Service Centres located across the UK. Each Service Centre has walk-in fridges and cold stores where vaccines and pharmaceuticals are stored. In order to ensure that the products remain safe and effective for use, Alliance Healthcare must adhere to MHRA guidelines on GDP (Good Distribution Practice) for refrigerated medicinal products. This involves strict temperature control during storage and transportation to ensure that constant temperatures are maintained in each of these storage areas.

To achieve effective temperature control in line with MHRA regulations, Alliance Healthcare has used Tinytag temperature data loggers for years. The data loggers continuously monitor temperature wherever they are located, providing the company with the critical data that is needed to prove to clients and auditors that temperatures have remained constant and that products have been stored safely.

At the company's Exeter service centre, vaccines are stored in large walk-in fridges. Data loggers are placed within the fridges to directly monitor the temperature conditions that the vaccines experience. In addition, data loggers are deployed within the warehouse itself to prove that a recommended ambient temperature of between 15-25°C has been maintained.

Data is downloaded from the loggers daily using Tinytag Explorer software. Tinytag Explorer's graph overlay feature enables staff at the Exeter centre to easily compare temperatures from different dates to check for changes to the conditions. The data loggers also have LED alarms that can alert staff if temperatures have fallen out of range, enabling them to take swift action in response to a temperature excursion. The data from the loggers allows staff to identify for how long acceptable temperature levels were breached and to take appropriate action regarding the stock: either destroying it if its quality has been compromised, or saving stock from loss if the data reveals it is still safe for use.

The Exeter Service Centre also carries out temperature mapping, whereby multiple data loggers are placed around a building and set to record over a period of time. This data is then downloaded and used to report on the thermal characteristics of the building. The staff can identify temperature 'hotspots' in the walk-in fridges or within the building (e.g. doorways that are opened and closed between shifts) and measures can then be taken to control the temperature more effectively in these locations.

When the efficacy of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals can mean the difference between a patient receiving treatment or going without it, it is important that manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and healthcare professionals have temperature data that they can rely on. A range of Tinytag data loggers are available for vaccine and pharmaceutical monitoring, including the Tinytag Talk 2 Medical data logger, specifically designed for monitoring alongside vaccine consignments in cold-temperature environments, cool-boxes and fridges. For ultra-low temperature monitoring, the Tinytag View 2 TV-4204 is able to measure to -200°C, ensuring that products which require storage in extreme temperatures are kept safe and effective for use.