Abatacept, sold under the trade name Orencia, is a prescription medication for people who have autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA), or psoriatic arthritis (PsA). It helps relieve the signs and symptoms caused by these painful inflammations.
Orencia can be self-administered at home by subcutaneous injection using pre-filled pens and pre-filled syringes. It is supplied in the form of a pre-filled syringe or a ClickJet auto-injector pen, for example.
It is a biological drug derived from living sources. As such, Orencia is quite unstable and is very sensitive to extreme heat or cold, as well as exposure to light. Orencia requires special storage conditions to ensure its effectiveness and safety during use.
While storing your Orencia pen or syringe at home shouldn't pose any particular problems, it can become more difficult when traveling. Here's how to keep Orencia refrigerated when traveling!
Do the Orencia prefilled pen and Orencia prefilled syringe need to be refrigerated?
Abatacept belongs to the group of biological therapeutics, also called biologics or biopharmaceuticals. These medicines are made from living sources (plants, animals or humans). Due to this peculiarity, drugs like Orencia are unstable and very sensitive to temperature and light conditions and can spoil quickly.
Like similar medicines, such as Humira , Enbrel , Actemra, Cimzia , Simponi , Taltz , Kevzara, or Cosentyx, Orencia must be kept refrigerated. It can only be kept at room temperature for a short time before it starts to spoil.
The correct Orencia application: Instructions for cooling & storage
According to Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, the manufacturer of Orencia, you must "store ORENCIA in the refrigerator between 2°C to 8°C (36°F to 46°F) until you are ready to use it. Be sure to keep ORENCIA in its original package and away from light. DO NOT freeze ORENCIA."
Make sure your refrigerator is working properly. Most home refrigerators are programmed to maintain a temperature range of 2°C to 8°C. This is the temperature Orencia needs.
Freezing temperatures can also damage your medications. To prevent your Orencia pens or Orencia syringes from freezing, do not store them near the freezer section of your refrigerator.
You should not take your pens or syringes out of the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. Subcutaneous injections of cold medications that have just been taken out of the refrigerator may be painful or uncomfortable. It is recommended that you take your Orencia dose out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before use to allow it to warm up and reach room temperature, causing less pain when injecting.
What happens when the Orencia active ingredient gets warm?
Orencia remains stable for up to eight hours when not refrigerated, provided it has been stored in normal light and at a temperature not exceeding 25°C.
In other words, you should never leave your Orencia auto-injector pens or prefilled syringes out of the refrigerator for more than 8 hours. Abatacept or Orencia that has been left out of the refrigerator for more than 8 hours is no longer safe to use. It is a biological medicine that can spoil quickly, lose its effectiveness, and become contaminated.
Never use an Orencia prefilled syringe or pen that has not been kept in the refrigerator for more than 8 hours or has been exposed to temperatures above 25°C, even for a few minutes. If in doubt, throw the device away immediately and get a new one from the refrigerator.
Unfortunately, these strict storage conditions make traveling with Orencia quite a challenge, right? Fortunately, there are Orencia medication coolers and cooler bags designed specifically for travelers.
Orencia travel kits and coolers
Traveling with chronic illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, asthma, Crohn's disease or others is always a challenge. Aside from the stress of never knowing when the pain will strike, one must plan and organize in advance and be prepared for emergencies.
In addition, you now also have to make sure that yourmedications stay cool while you travel .
Don't worry, we've got you covered! Here are 4AllFamily 's portable refrigerators for Orencia.
4AllFamily cooler bag for Orencia
The 4AllFamily team develops travel coolers for people whose lives depend on refrigerated medications .
Our products range from pocket-sized thermos-like cooling bottles to powerful portable coolers that work like real refrigerators, keeping your Orencia pens and syringes chilled for several days (without power) or forever (with power) .
Depending on your lifestyle and the type of trip you plan to take, you can choose from a variety of products to suit your needs.
Our Biogel cooling method uses ice packs to keep medications cool even when you don't have access to electricity. It's ideal for airplane travel, camping trips, or nature trips .
Our USB power cooling method is more suitable for people who travel in conditions where they can plug the cooler into a power source. Any power source would work, including household electricity of course, but also a car cigarette lighter, a travel power bank and even a portable solar panel .
And some of our cool boxes even combine these two cooling solutions!
And last but not least, all of our cool boxes are suitable for air travel , so that you can safely board the plane with your cooled medication in your hand luggage .
If you have any doubts or questions, please leave us a comment in the section below or contact us. We are here for you!
