New ProtoCOL 2 System Speeds Up Quality Testing of Swine Flu Vaccines
With Innovative Zone Measurement to Reduce Manufacturing Timelines

October 20th 2009 Cambridge, UK: Synbiosis, a world-leading manufacturer of automated microbiological systems, is pleased to announce that its innovative ProtoCOL 2 automatic zone measuring system can increase the speed of quality testing of H1N1 swine flu virus vaccine potency, ensuring vaccines can be rapidly delivered to healthcare professionals.

The ground breaking ProtoCOL 2 takes zone measurement technology to a new level with its unique functionality and performance, and can generate results from a 16-zone SRD (Single Radial Immunodiffusion) plate of swine flu vaccines in minutes. This means using a ProtoCOL 2, manufacturers can produce highly accurate and reproducible indications of vaccine potency up to ten times faster than time consuming and error-prone manual techniques.

The ergonomically designed ProtoCOL 2 has sliding doors to eliminate ambient light and the system’s unique red, blue and green LED lighting (patent pending) provides exceptional uniform illumination of SRD plates offering good contrast and reflection-free detection. The unit contains a high-resolution CCD camera that captures precise zone images in seconds and its new advanced Zone software can rapidly calculate a precise average diameter to provide an accurate indication of vaccine potency. These innovative features save hours of highly repetitive work to make ProtoCOL 2 ideal for increasing productivity in any GMP vaccine production facility.

The reproducible results can be automatically transferred with a one button click into the statistical analysis module and an image library is also created alongside. These files ensure producing professional reports for each batch of swine flu vaccine, accepted by major regulatory authorities, is a straightforward task.

Martin Smith of Synbiosis commented: “Although, swine flu is not generally causing serious illness in patients, health officials are preparing for one of the biggest winter vaccination campaigns in almost 50 years, and the UK government has ordered enough vaccine to cover the entire population.”

Martin Smith added: “Due to this short-term surge in demand for swine flu vaccine, manufacturers that can have theirs available first are likely to benefit the most. This is where using our ProtoCOL 2 system will help because automating analysis of SRD plates means vaccine potency can be determined in minutes not hours, thus reducing production timelines and allowing more rapid release of vaccines to healthcare professionals.”
 

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For Further Information Contact:
Jayne Arthur, Synbiosis, Beacon House, Nuffield Road, Cambridge, CB4 1TF, UK.
Tel: +44(0) 1223-727125 Fax +44 (0) 1223-727101
Email: jayne.arthur@synbiosis.com  Web site: www.synbiosis.com 

Editor Contact:
Dr Sue Pearson, Director, International Science Writer, PO Box 170, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG5 3GD, UK.
Tel/Fax +44 (0)1462-635327 Email: sue6.pearson@ntlworld.com

Note to Editors

About Synbiosis

Synbiosis is a world-leading supplier of integrated imaging solutions for automatic counting and analysis of microbial colonies and zone measurement. The ProtoCOL 2 and åCOLyte systems from Synbiosis are installed in food, pharmaceutical, environmental and research microbiology laboratories world-wide. Synbiosis uses established distribution channels to market its products internationally.

Synbiosis, founded in 1998 is a division of the Synoptics Group based in Cambridge UK. The Group’s other divisions, Syncroscopy and Syngene, specialise in digital imaging solutions for microscopy and molecular biology applications respectively. Synoptics currently employs 40 people in its UK and US subsidiary operation.