BOISE, Idaho — A Boise company is working to ensure COVID-19 vaccines don't go to waste. The FDA is expected to grant approval in the coming days.
The company, American Pharma Technologies, developed a device called PharmaWatch. It is being used statewide in both Idaho and Arkansas. The software is also used in hospitals across the country.
PharmaWatch gets real-time information on vaccines when they are stored.
“We all know the COVID vaccine's efficacy is absolutely critical,” American Pharma Technologies COO and VP Nick Ioli said.
The hope for their product is that it helps deliver more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We monitor temperatures live direct to cloud every five minutes with sensors that communicate with our software,” Ioli said.
This is done in real-time by getting new updates every five minutes. PharmaWatch is a sensor that can send alerts, letting facilities know if there is an issue.
This is the opposite of other monitoring technology like data loggers. Ioli said real-time monitoring is key to maintaining the efficacy of vaccines.
“It’s not connected so it’s not going to send that data to the Cloud,” he said. “It’s not going to have text alerts, phone alerts, email alerts.”
Pfizer's vaccine needs to be kept at -70 Celsius to stay effective.
Sarah Leeds is the state's immunization program manager. She spoke to KTVB in early November about the vaccine.
“This first vaccine, this ultra-cold Pfizer, is an ultra-cold vaccine and it is presenting us with a number of challenges,” she said back on Nov. 16.
If something goes wrong in storage and it's found out later, it could be too late to save the doses.
“Knowing after the fact that something happened isn't going to prevent something from happening,” Ioli said. “So, the real-time is really there to ensure that somebody reacts quickly.”
American Pharma Technologies is actively working with Washington, Oregon, and Florida to get on a shortlist of recommended solutions for the COVID-vaccine.
“With the COVID vaccine, any loss of efficacy is critical,” Ioli said. “So, we're taking it very seriously and it's our mission to make sure all the vaccines we're watching are watched very closely.”
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