Although cell culture incubators have long been a mainstay of the pharmaceutical industry, the recent surge in demand for biomanufacturing has meant that increasingly the same incubator is being used for a number of applications.
This has placed more of a spotlight on methods used to decontaminate incubators between cell culture protocols with approaches that were previously commonplace, like EtO, being questioned on grounds of safety and environmental harm.
Sanyo claims that its Steisonic CxP MCO-19AIC (UVH) incubator unit alleviates these concerns on the basis that H2O2 is a “safer, more efficient alternative decontamination method.”
The firm added that similar H202 decontamination protocols for the manufacture of medical devices have already been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Clean in under 3 hours
Sanyo also said that an incubator can be completely decontaminated in less than three hours, limiting chamber downtime, significantly boosting efficiency and reducing manufacturing costs.
Matt Siebert, product and sourcing manager for Sanyo Biomedical and Environmental Solutions, suggested that the unit is the most “advanced sterilisation and decontamination system available.”
Siebert went on to say that the incubators feature a patented control system that combats contamination while culture protocols are in progress and a UV airflow cleaning system to remove airborn and humidity pan surface contaminants.
In addition, the interior surfaces of the incubator are made from Sanyo’s inCusaFe copper-enriched stainless steel technology which, the firm claims, help assure constant germicidal protection during operations.