Solutions that enable discoveries of new vaccines by providing sterile environments and transfer solutions

As drug manufacturers race against the clock to find a cure to the coronavirus, it’s crucial that they can test and prepare the vaccines without risking contamination, as well as transfer sterile components for the production process in a safe way. A complete solution for this is offered from Getinge’s Life Science hub in French city Vendôme.

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When we or someone we love are in need of medicine, we rarely think about what it took to prepare it. Neither do we think about how the medicine ended up in our possession in a safe way. Fact is, finding the cures of today and tomorrow is not an easy task for research centers and drug manufacturers around the world.

“The challenges are many. They need to truly contain the dangerous virus they work with. For this, proper equipment is needed and that’s what we manufacture here in Vendôme,” says Julien Mansuy, Isolator & Sterile Transfer Engineering Pool Manager at Getinge.

Isolator 300Julien and his colleagues are creating barrier isolators. Inside the isolators’ contained environments, drug manufacturers can test and prepare vaccines safely and get rid of waste without risking contamination.

“Both the person carrying out the work and the vaccine itself are being protected at all times,” says Emmanuel Frelon, Isoflex-S Expert at Getinge.

Sterility testing of samples from every batch of drugs before the batch is released is mandatory under pharmacopeia regulations in most countries.

“Our isolators provide an optimal environment by limiting the risk of false positive results. We have about one million bacteria on our skin which would of course have an impact if an operator came into contact with the samples. With sterility testing, false positive results - which cause critical delays in situations where speed is everything - can be avoided,” tells Emmanuel.

“The isolators also provide a safe and ergonomic environment for the operator since there is no exposure to the drug,” explains Franck Nabais, Isoflex-R Expert at Getinge.

Cleanroom 300The DPTE® sterile transfer system is also manufactured in Vendôme, consisting of an Alpha port with secure interlock enabling safe connections and disconnections and a Beta container or DPTE-BetaBag®. This system makes it possible to move material in and out of an isolator or sterile zone without breaking containment, and the DPTE-BetaBag® is fully leak tight.

“It is a complete solution for safe manufacturing and transfer of vaccines, which is of course of the greatest importance when searching for cures that will go directly into patients,” tells Julien. “When drugs are prepared in this clean and safe environment, they also reach a higher level of quality. And with high quality the treatment gets more effective and leaves less room for side effects.”

Both Julien, Emmanuel and Franck think it’s exciting to be a link in the long chain that leads to saving more lives.

“We customize these complete solutions to serve our customers’ needs. The best feeling is when you see the light in their eyes when they realize how the solution will enable them to work in a safe and efficient way,” says Franck.

Julien agrees:

“We design high technology equipment that will protect our customers in critical conditions, while they are doing everything they can to discover miracles. I hope a cure to COVID-19 is next.”

Learn more about Getinge's Life Science solutions