QualTex Laboratories Launches Testing Automation System In San Antonio

Second location gives QualTex largest automated testing capability in the United States

San Antonio, TX (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - QualTex Laboratories, a subsidiary of San Antonio-based nonprofit BioBridge Global, has begun testing blood and plasma donations on its second automated track system, expanding its capabilities in its San Antonio laboratory.

The Abbott Accelerator a3600 Laboratory Automation System is just the second installed at a donor testing facility in the United States. The first was at the QualTex Laboratories facility in Norcross, Georgia. The combined systems give QualTex Laboratories the largest automated testing setup in the country.

Ward Carter, Chief Operating Officer of QualTex Laboratories, said the addition of the automation system in San Antonio benefits both customers and staff.

“The track system will help us further improve testing turnaround times, so blood and plasma centers will get their results even faster,” he said. “It also helps us maintain our high standards for testing quality. This is critically important, as we test about 9 million donors annually.

“Our laboratory personnel will be doing fewer routine tasks, like loading and unloading centrifuges. Instead, they’re going to work on more technical aspects of the preanalytical processes such as customer order exceptions, result release and analytical review of test results.”

The track system in San Antonio includes the Abbott Alinity s system, which was tested at QualTex Laboratories during its development. The Alinity s system can run 600 tests per hour and is more compact than most previous viral disease testing devices.

The next phase of QualTex Laboratories expansion is underway in its microbiology and cellular therapy reference laboratory. This additional growth will allow QualTex to expand its capabilities and provide testing services for characterization, purity and potency for organizations working on regenerative medicine therapies.

QualTex Laboratories is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit testing laboratories, providing FDA-mandated testing services on blood, plasma, tissue and organ donations at its locations in San Antonio and Atlanta.

About QualTex Laboratories: QualTex Laboratories provides state-of-the-art biologic testing services on whole blood, plasma and human cells, tissue, and cellular- and tissue-based products for biotechnology and biopharmaceutical customers. It is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit testing laboratories with automation systems and has locations in Texas and Georgia. The center is a subsidiary of BioBridge Global, a nonprofit organization comprising services for regenerative medicine and research to help patients in South Texas, the United States and worldwide. Visit us at qualtexlabs.org.

About BioBridge Global: BioBridge Global (BBG) is a San Antonio, Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that offers diverse services through its subsidiaries – the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, QualTex Laboratories, GenCure and The Blood & Tissue Center Foundation. BBG provides products and services in blood resource management, cellular therapy, donated umbilical cord blood and human tissue as well as testing of blood, plasma and tissue products for clients in the United States and worldwide. BBG is committed to saving and enhancing lives through the healing power of human cells and tissue. It enables advances in the field of regenerative medicine by providing access to human cells and tissue, testing services and biomanufacturing and clinical trials support. Learn more at BioBridgeGlobal.org.

© 2020 GlobeNewswire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.