bioMerieux is expanding its culture media expertise center in Craponne (France) with a dedicated manufacturing unit for its biopharmaceutical customers. With more than 6 million euros invested and equipped with cutting-edge manufacturing technologies, the new, fully automated, unit has been built to support product demand and the global launch of the revolutionary LockSure® plate. Designed for environmental control in pharmaceutical clean rooms and isolators, this patented technology secures the lids on culture media to ensure optimal quality, from sampling to results.

'This new manufacturing unit for Count-Tact® and LockSure plates enables us to satisfy our customers' needs for greater performance, flexibility and innovation,' said Jean-Marc Durano, Corporate Vice President, Industrial Microbiology. 'We now have culture media manufacturing sites in the U.S. and France, entirely dedicated to the pharmaceutical industry, to meet global demand.'

Requirements from pharmaceutical companies towards their suppliers are very strict in terms of quality and service, especially for culture media, which are critical for quality control. With multiple new manufacturing lines, the Craponne production unit operates in compliance with the FDA cGMP 21 CFR Part 820 (current Good Manufacturing Practices), as well as with bioMerieux's Corporate Quality Assurance policy and Quality System, which is certified ISO 9001:2008 and EN ISO 13485:2003.