FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
|
World
Courier CTSCS Depots Provide Dedicated Storage for GMO Products
BUENOS AIRES (Argentina), June 16,
2009—— In
response to growing client demand and based on recently-established
international biosafety regulations, World Courier
has begun rolling out dedicated storage areas for GMO-derived pharmaceutical
products throughout its global investigational drug storage network.
“We believe that biotechnology will
play an important role in the future of pharmaceutical research and development,”
says Carlos Jankowski, Global Executive Director of World Courier’s Clinical
Trial Supply Chain Services (CTSCS) Division, “and have chosen once again to
assert our position as the market leader in providing critical services to the
pharmaceutical sector. As countries begin to regulate the handling of GMOs and GMO-derived products, we will be ready to offer
up-to-the-minute validated facilities that comply specifically with national
regulations governing the storage and distribution of these products.”
GMO storage capabilities are now
available at company depots in
World Courier’s new GMO
storage units are equipped with qualified ultra freezers (-80ºC), contact
freezers (-20ºC) and, in some countries, with controlled ambient temperature
areas (15ºC to 25ºC). These dedicated storage areas have been established in
accordance with local biosafety requirements and are
used primarily to house Biosafety Level (BSL) 1 and 2
products, those most readily used in trials. Special SOPs and safety measures
have been implemented for GMO storage units which have been carefully isolated
from other product storage areas to eliminate all possibilities of
cross-contamination.
About GMOs
The term “genetically modified
organism” (GMO) refers to biological organisms whose genetic material has been
modified or altered via non-natural methods. Using genetic engineering
techniques, undesirable characteristics within the organism are altered or
eliminated, or new characteristics are introduced. GMO applications are now
widespread, beginning with agricultural practice where crops may be modified to
increase production, or resist herbicides or vermin. In the medical field, many
drugs and pharmaceutical products such as insulin are now similarly produced
using this technology. Gene therapy research, the most advanced form of genetic
modification, offers much hope in finding cures to debilitating and
life-threatening diseases. Some 100 gene therapy clinical trials are now
initiated annually in an area that is expected to grow over time.
In response to safety concerns
associated with GMOs, four biosafety
levels (BSL) have been established to govern all combinations of laboratory
practices and techniques, safety equipment and facility management. Each biosafety level calls for successively more restrictive
practices and facilities as materials move from the least restrictive BSL1 to
the highest hazard level of BSL4.
About
World Courier
Incorporated in 1969 and
headquartered in
World Courier currently operates
company-owned ISO-certified investigational drug storage depots in
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Contacts
Carlos Jankowski
Global Executive
Director
CTSCS Division
World Courier Argentina
S.A.
Avda. Corrientes 316 P.B.
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Telephone: 54 11 4328 8300
Fax: 54 11 4328 5879
Email:
jankowski@worldcourier.com.ar
Rüdiger Lomb
Director, Corporate
Development & Compliance
World Courier (Deutschland)
GmbH
10243
Telephone: 49 30 24 31 42 0
Fax: 49 30 24 31 42 29
Email: rlomb@worldcourier.de