Cryopreserved tissue and biologic products handled this way are stored at deep-freeze temperatures, around -80 degrees Celsius, using slow-rate freezing at the point of processing to limit damage to the tissue during the freeze. Maintaining that temperature range through storage and shipping is what the term cold chain describes.
The chain includes the supplier's freezer, the shipping container and refrigerant used in transit, and the clinic's own storage once the product arrives. Each link has to hold the required range; a validated shipping container is designed to maintain temperature for a defined transit window, and a clinic's storage equipment needs to be capable of holding the product at the required temperature for as long as it sits in inventory before use.
A clinic receiving a cryopreserved product should check the shipment for any sign of thaw or temperature indicator failure at the time of receipt, log the condition on arrival, and have freezer capacity and a monitoring routine in place before ordering. These steps protect the clinic's own interest in the product it received matching what the supplier shipped.
A clinic's own storage and receiving practices are as much a part of the cold chain as the supplier's shipping process, and gaps on the clinic side can undo everything upstream.