Freezing and storage container for biopharmaceutical drug products

Abstract

A container for storing a biopharmaceutical drug product is disclosed. The container includes two surface area planar walls. A plurality of smaller side walls circumscribing each, of the planar walls. The container may also include a plurality of members extending between the first planar surface and the second planar surface and located at spaced apart locations on each of the first and second planar surfaces. A method of freezing at least one biopharmaceutical product in the container is also disclosed.

1 . A container for storing a biopharmaceutical drug product comprising:
 a first and second surface area planar walls extending opposite to one another;   a plurality of smaller surface area side walls circumscribing each of said first and second surface area planar walls, wherein the plurality of side walls connect said first and second surface area planar walls, all of said surfaces collectively defining the interior of the container; and   a plurality of structural support members extending from the first planar surface to the second planar surface and located at spaced apart locations on each of the first and second planar surfaces.   
   
   
       2 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein said first and second surface area planar walls are parallel surfaces. 
   
   
       3 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of side walls extends at an oblique angle relative to an adjacent of the plurality of side walls. 
   
   
       4 . The container according to  claim 3 , wherein the remaining of the plurality of side walls each define at least a portion of a side of a rectangle. 
   
   
       5 . The container according to  claim 4 , further comprising an opening formed within one of the plurality of side walls. 
   
   
       6 . The container according to  claim 5 , further comprising a nipple formed around the opening and extending outwardly from one of the plurality of smaller side walls. 
   
   
       7 . The container according to  claim 6 , wherein the nipple extends within the rectangle. 
   
   
       8 . The container according to  claim 4 , further comprising at least one handle support extending outwardly from the one of the plurality of side walls. 
   
   
       9 . The container according to  claim 8 , wherein the at least one handle support extends within the rectangle. 
   
   
       10 . The container according to  claim 8 , further comprising a handle releasably connected to the at least one handle support. 
   
   
       11 . The container according to  claim 2 , wherein the second planar surface is spaced from the first surface area planar wall by a distance of between about 5 to about 11 centimeters. 
   
   
       12 . The container according to  claim 8 , wherein the second surface area planar wall is spaced from the first surface area planar wall by a distance of about 8 centimeters. 
   
   
       13 . The container according to  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of side walls comprise a plurality of structural support members. 
   
   
       14 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein the first planar surface is spaced from the second. planar surface by a distance, and wherein a maximum dimension of each of the first and second surface area planar walls is no more than ten times that of the distance. 
   
   
       15 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein said first and second surface area planar walls and the plurality of smaller side walls all have a thickness of between about 0.1 to about 0.95 centimeters. 
   
   
       16 . A method of freezing a biopharmaceutical product comprising the steps of:
 providing a container having:
 a first and second surface area planar walls extending opposite to one another; 
 a plurality of smaller surface area side walls circumscribing each of the first and second surface area planar walls, wherein the plurality of side walls connect said first and second surface area planar walls, all of said surfaces collectively defining the interior of the container; and 
 a plurality of structural support members extending from the first planar surface to the second planar surface and located at spaced apart locations on each of the first and second planar surfaces; 
   inserting at least one biopharmaceutical product into the container;   subjecting the container to freezing conditions; and   freezing said at least one biopharmaceutical product within the container while maintaining a generally homogenous solution.   
   
   
       17 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein said first and second surface area planar walls are parallel surfaces. 
   
   
       18 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein said first and second surface area planar walls and the plurality of side walls all have a thickness of between about 0.1 to about 0.95 centimeters. 
   
   
       19 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein freezing the biopharmaceutical product comprises absorbing heat from the biopharmaceutical product through the plurality of members. 
   
   
       20 . The method according to  claim 19 , further comprising inserting a heat conductive material into at least one of the plurality of members. 
   
   
       21 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the container further comprises a handle removably connected to the container, and wherein the method further comprises, prior to the step of freezing the biopharmaceutical product, removing the handle from the container.