Softbox by CSafe Global, the innovation leader in temperature-controlled shipping solutions for the transport of life-enhancing pharmaceuticals, has been named a finalist of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Award in the Company of the Year and Pandemic Response categories for the Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) shipper designed to ship the first COVID-19 vaccine.
Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards honor clean technology, innovative corporate initiatives, brave new designs for cities and buildings, and other creative works that are supporting the growth of positive social innovation, tackling social inequality, climate change, and public health crises.
As pharmaceutical companies began developing COVID-19 vaccines in 2020, the early results made it clear that the most promising vaccines would require not only deep-frozen transport temperatures, but also extended shipment durations to reach locations around the globe. At a customer’s request, the Softbox team began supporting the design of a highly specialized ULT shipper that could safely transport this critical cargo once it was approved for distribution. The ULT shipper allows the vaccines to maintain the required temperatures between -90°C to -60°C for at least 10 days if unopened. Upon arrival at the final destination, the box can be opened twice a day for up to three minutes each time to allow clinicians to secure vials needed for daily immunizations. By adding dry ice to the box as needed, the Softbox medium ULT shipper can maintain the integrity and viability of the vaccine vials inside for up to 30 days.
Now in its sixth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 39 winners, 350 finalists, and more than 600 honorable mentions—with climate, social justice, and AI and data among the most popular categories. A panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,997 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, health, social justice, and more. In addition, several new categories have been added this year including climate, nature, water, and workplace. The 2022 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Switzerland to Hong Kong to Australia.
Fast Company’s Summer 2022 issue showcases some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling global challenges.
“The pandemic put the cold chain industry front and center on the world stage and the Softbox team rose to the challenge, supporting the development of a highly innovative shipper utilizing high performance insulation materials delivered in a robust and reusable construction to ensure the COVID-19 vaccine could be distributed globally and arrive at point of use sites with the vaccine’s quality and efficacy maintained,” shared CSafe Global Chief Technology Officer – Passive Solutions (former Softbox Systems CEO), Kevin Valentine. “I am proud to work with this amazing team of people and look forward to bringing more world changing ideas, products and technology to the market as part of the CSafe Global organization.”
“I am truly honored to be able to share in this recognition and congratulate every single member of the team at Softbox who worked on the design, manufacture and delivery of a truly world changing product,” said CSafe Global CEO, Patrick Schafer.
“We are consistently inspired by the novelty and creativity that people are applying to solve some of our society’s most pressing problems, from shelter to the climate crisis. Fast Company relishes its role in amplifying important, innovative work to address big challenges,” says David Lidsky, interim editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists have identified some of the most ingenious initiatives to launch since the start of 2021, which we hope will both have a meaningful impact and lead others to join in being part of the solution.”