Carlsbad, California, October 22, 2020/PRNewswire/-The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on COPAN Diagnostics, Inc. On Tuesday, the 5 millionth UTM® (Universal Transport Medium) from the company’s new manufacturing facility in Carlsbad, California is ready to play an indispensable role in the fight against this deadly virus.
COPAN Diagnostics CEO Norman Sharples (Norman Sharples) said: “Everyone is satisfied with the increase in production because we are doing something for healthcare that can make a difference.” “We know that from construction Every piece of equipment that comes out will be put into use immediately, not on a shelf.”
Thanks to the addition of a new 38,000-square-foot factory in the Carlsbad Business Park, the output mentioned by Sharples was realized. The vast space allowed COPAN to significantly increase UTM® production in the United States from its previous capacity of several thousand test kits per week to more than 840,000 per week in just a few months.
Sharpless said: “This pandemic has re-emerged the importance of collection devices, and we have made great efforts to produce these kits to help increase the number of available tests.”
The FDA-approved transportation system is transported to hospitals, reference laboratories, and other emergency care points to collect specimens from patients who are tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. COPAN’s UTM® is still a leader in the collection, transportation, preservation and long-term cryopreservation of clinical specimens containing viruses (such as SARS-CoV-2). The transport medium is packed in a plastic screw cap tube, which can maintain the biological viability for 48 hours at room temperature or refrigeration temperature.
Sharples’ goal is to reach 1 million per week, and he is very excited that the company he has led over the past 26 years is close to achieving this ambitious goal.
The long-time CEO said: “COPAN has experienced a pandemic.” “But other epidemics, such as the H1N1 pandemic, are not even close to the demand for sample collection that we have seen on COVID-19.”
When SARS-CoV-2 raised its head for the first time, it was clear that COPAN needed to increase the production capacity of UTM®. Although the company’s Italian headquarters began to produce and ship kits 7 days a week, the huge demand for testing has placed an unprecedented burden on medical professionals, laboratory personnel and the supply chain. COPAN decided to add other manufacturing capabilities to meet healthcare needs.
Since there was not enough space in the Murrieta facility, and after failing to find another location in the Temecula Valley area, COPAN set its sights on Carlsbad because it is a well-known life science center.
After signing the lease in early June, they completed the interior decoration and locked all permits and inspections in an unprecedented 26 days. The City of Carlsbad is a key participant in this rapid business plan, with employees working remotely to help COPAN obtain all the necessary approvals in record time. Sharpless said: “The city of Carlsbad is very, very cooperative.” “In this very unusual situation, they had to do remote and electronic work. They completed the work extremely fast, We are really grateful to the city of Carlsbad.”
COPAN employees have hired 125 employees at the Carlsbad plant and gathered this week to celebrate the most recent 5 million milestone. Sharpless and marketing director Gabriela Franco (Gabriela Franco) wore patriotic costumes (even American flag masks) and star-shaped cakes to demonstrate COPAN’s contribution to fighting the coronavirus.
About COPAN COPAN is known for innovation and is the world’s leading manufacturer of collection and transportation systems. Pre-analysis was carried out through the collaborative method of COPAN, flocking swabs, ESwab™, UTM® universal transport media and laboratory automation WASP® and WASPLab® were obtained. COPAN comes with a series of microbiological sampling products, inoculation loops and pipettes. For more information, please visit www.copanusa.com.


Post time: Oct-26-2020