As global cell therapy, research, and diagnostics grow, transporting living cells across provinces and countries —safely and reliably—has become a logistical and scientific challenge. Whether it’s engineered immune cells for CAR-T therapy or patient-derived organoids for testing, ensuring cells arrive viable and functional is critical. Yet traditional cold chain methods like dry ice or cryopreservation don’t always meet the needs of sensitive or clinical-grade cell types.
Once cells arrive at their destination—whether a research lab or a clinical setting—their viability and functionality determine the success of downstream applications. For therapeutic use, this means ensuring the cells are alive, responsive, and retain their intended biological properties. Even in research, compromised cells can lead to inconsistent data, failed experiments, or wasted reagents and time.
Basic cold storage shipping of cells, such as placing cells on ice or using non-specialised cold packs, may preserve viability for a short time. However, it often fails to maintain cell membrane integrity, metabolic activity, or phenotypic stability—especially for sensitive or therapeutic-grade cell types. Sublethal damage that doesn’t cause immediate cell death can still impair critical functions like proliferation, cytokine release, or homing ability in vivo.
For cell therapies in particular, even minor losses in cell quality during storage or transport can lead to reduced clinical efficacy or pose safety risks to patients. Therefore, transport methods must go beyond just keeping cells “alive”—they must preserve their full therapeutic potential and functional identity throughout the journey.
When transporting cells across borders or over long distances, researchers and manufacturers rely on a few standard methods. Each method offers unique advantages—but also comes with significant limitations and safety concerns that can impact cell viability, sustainability, and logistical feasibility.
Cryopreservation remains the gold standard for long-term cell storage. Cells are frozen with cryoprotectants (e.g., DMSO) and transported in dry shippers charged with liquid nitrogen vapour.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Risks:
An alternative to LN₂, dry ice shipping is widely used for short-term transport of cryopreserved samples.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Risks:
Some laboratories ship actively growing cells in flasks filled with culture medium, secured and sealed for transit. This approach avoids freezing altogether.
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Disadvantages:
Risks:
To overcome the limitations of cryogenic shipping and live-cell transport, many researchers and cell therapy manufacturers are turning to hypothermic transport—a method that preserves cells at low, non-freezing temperatures (typically 2–8°C) using specially formulated storage solution, like HypoGuard.
Unlike simply placing cells on ice, hypothermic transport involves scientifically optimised preservation media that support cellular metabolism and membrane stability during cold storage. This method is designed to extend cell viability and functionality for several days without the need for freezing or specialised equipment.
At reduced temperatures, cellular metabolism, energy consumption, and oxygen demand are significantly lowered—a state often referred to as “cell pausing.” This physiological slowdown helps minimise cellular stress and damage during transit.
Effective hypothermic preservation requires solutions that do more than just cool the cells:
They contain carefully balanced ions and impermeable molecules to maintain osmotic and ionic homeostasis.
Antioxidants and free radical scavengers help prevent oxidative damage.
Oncotic agents help prevent cellular swelling and lysis.
Energy substrates are included to sustain basic ATP levels even under suppressed metabolic conditions.
Together, these elements create a protective environment that helps preserve cell structure, viability, and function throughout transportation.
Preserves Cell Integrity Without Freezing
Avoids damage from ice crystals or freeze–thaw stress while maintaining membrane integrity and phenotypic stability.
Maintains Functionality
Preserves important cellular characteristics such as viability, adhesion, proliferation, and cytokine secretion—critical for therapeutic use.
Simplifies Logistics
Eliminates the need for hazardous materials (like dry ice or LN₂), reducing shipping costs, regulatory complications, and carbon footprint.
Supports Regulatory Compliance
Suitable for clinical applications where maintaining GMP-compliant, cold-chain transport is essential.
Compatible with a Wide Range of Cell Types
Effective for transporting stem cells, immune cells (e.g., T cells, NK cells), iPSCs, and even 3D cell cultures and organoids.
By bridging the gap between live-cell and cryopreserved shipping, hypothermic transport offers a safe, scalable, and sustainable solution for moving sensitive cells across cities, countries, or continents. It is especially well-suited for modern cell therapy pipelines, where cell quality at delivery is paramount and logistical flexibility is a competitive advantage.
As the life sciences industry becomes more global and decentralised, hypothermic transport is gaining traction across multiple applications. Its ability to maintain viable, functional cells without freezing makes it ideal for use in clinical, research, and manufacturing environments.
In autologous and allogeneic cell therapies, such as CAR-T and MSC-based treatments, cells are often manufactured at centralised GMP facilities and shipped to hospitals or infusion centers for patient administration. Hypothermic transport helps ensure that:
Multicenter clinical trials require the distribution of patient-derived cells or therapeutic products across geographically dispersed sites. Hypothermic transport offers:
Academic consortia and biobanks often need to ship rare or valuable cell lines, organoids, or primary cells between collaborators. With hypothermic storage media:
Transporting 3D cell cultures or organoids presents unique challenges due to their structural complexity and sensitivity to freeze–thaw cycles. Hypothermic transport helps by:
Diagnostic companies offering cell-based assays (e.g., immunophenotyping, potency testing) can use hypothermic solutions to:
These use cases demonstrate how hypothermic transport is redefining what’s possible in cell logistics. By protecting cell viability and functionality without freezing, this method opens new doors for global collaboration, faster clinical workflows, and scalable cell-based solutions.
| Feature / Method | Live Cell Transport (Flasks) | Cryogenic Shipping (Dry Ice / LN₂) | Hypothermic Transport (2–8°C with Preservation Media) |
| Temperature | Ambient | −78.5°C (Dry Ice), −196°C (LN₂) | 2–8°C (non-freezing) |
| Viability Risk | High (pH shifts, nutrient depletion, detachment) | Freeze–thaw stress, ice crystal damage | Low (stabilises membrane and metabolism) |
| Functionality Preservation | Often compromised | Often requires recovery time post-thaw | Well-preserved for days |
| CO₂ Emissions / Hazards | Low | High (Dry Ice is a CO₂ emitter; LN₂ requires special handling) | Low environmental and safety risk |
| Shipping Complexity | Minimal packaging, but fragile | Requires regulated hazardous shipping procedures | Shippable via standard cold-chain logistics |
| Infrastructure Needed on Arrival | Incubator | Cryostorage and thawing setup | Simple refrigeration or direct use |
| Use Case Suitability | Short local transit, robust cell types | Long-term storage, long-distance shipping of cryopreserved cells | Mid-range shipping, cell therapy, clinical/research use |
| Regulatory/Customs Complexity | Low to moderate | High (dangerous goods declaration, import/export hurdles) | Lower compliance barrier |
At Atlantis Bioscience, we recognise the critical need for reliable, flexible solutions to safeguard cells during transport. That’s why we partnered with AGEM Bio, a company focused on developing and building cell therapy assests, to develop two advanced products tailored for different preservation needs to address the gaps in cell transportation life science companies:
A hypothermic transport media for short to mid-range cell delivery including sensitive and engineered cells. It can preserve cells viability and function at 2–8°C for up to 120 hours. Ideal for:
A safe and versatile DMSO and protein free cryopreservation medium that also supports hypothermic storage, CryoEase-PF allows for:
Together, HypoGuard and CryoEase empower scientists, clinicians, and manufacturers with the tools to streamline cell logistics while protecting cell integrity from bench to bedside.
As global demand for cell-based products and therapies grows, the limitations of traditional transport methods become more apparent. Whether you’re shipping cells across town or across continents, using the right preservation strategy makes all the difference.
By adopting hypothermic transport solutions like HypoGuard or leveraging the dual functionality of CryoEase-PF, you can ensure your cells arrive viable, functional, and ready for action—without the risks and costs of outdated methods.
If you’re ready to simplify your cell transport logistics without compromising cell quality, talk to us about HypoGuard and CryoEase-PF.
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