Pelican BioThermal recently acquired NanoCool, an Albuquerque NM-based manufacturer of temperature-controlled packaging solutions.
The deal increases the breadth of the Pelican portfolio, the company said. The addition of NanoCool customers, market segments and product technologies will help it expand access to patients, laboratories and other last-mile players in the distribution of life sciences materials and collection of patient laboratory samples.
“The core competency of Pelican BioThermal and NanoCool—innovative temperature-controlled packaging—is very much aligned, but there is little overlap between our market segments and product technologies,” said David Williams, president of Pelican BioThermal. “Adding NanoCool’s capabilities to our diverse product line will help fuel our efforts to expand our offerings and bring further innovation to growing sectors of the life sciences industry spanning the globe.
“We will continue to lead innovation in temperature-controlled packaging with the addition of NanoCool’s customer-focused engineering approach—a methodology that both organizations fully embrace.”
NanoCool’s evaporative cooling systems are convenient cold chain shipping containers, Pelican said. With no need to refrigerate or pre-condition, NanoCool packaging can be stored at normal temperatures. The push of a button engages the cooling technology and quickly conditions a payload space for shipping biological patient samples and other life science materials. These unique characteristics, and highly efficient volumetrics, make NanoCool ideal for markets like specialty couriers, diagnostic laboratories, clinical supply providers, and gene and cell therapy organizations.
The company also has a dry ice-friendly parcel shipper and a version of its cooling engine that patients can send in a shipping envelope from their homes. Combining companies opens the door for Pelican BioThermal to establish new customer relationships and address cold chain challenges in burgeoning markets.
“I’m thrilled to see NanoCool become part of the Pelican BioThermal family,” said Doug Smith, founder of NanoCool. “The Pelican BioThermal brand is well known around the world for its temperature-controlled technology and we’re excited that our products will gain access to their resources and best-in-class industry expertise.
“Since we primarily serve customers in the US, we look forward to leveraging Pelican BioThermal’s extensive global network to bring our innovative technology to more areas of the world, especially to areas where temperature control is crucial.”
Smith will continue with the business as a consultant to Pelican, and the NanoCool facility in New Mexico will continue to manufacture its products, Pelican maintained. Plans are underway to increase production at the facility to meet expected new sales following the acquisition. The approximately 60-person staff of NanoCool will be retained, and new positions may be added to enhance operations and support sales growth.
Visit pelicanbiothermal.com for more information.
