Tag Archives: Clean Rooms

September 12, 2006 — /MARKET WIRE/ — MIDDLEFIELD, CT — (Zygo Corporation (NASDAQ: ZIGO), a leading worldwide optical metrology supplier, today announced that it has received a follow-on order from a leading North American semiconductor manufacturer as part of a multi-million-dollar commitment to use ZYGO’s Z3D 7000(tm) metrology tool for high volume manufacturing process control.

The Z3D 7000(tm) optical metrology tool performs high-resolution surface topography measurements on bare and patterned 200mm and 300mm semiconductor wafers. It provides high measurement precision at throughputs that exceed those achievable with existing mechanical profiling techniques, such as atomic force microscopy. The tool has been designed to meet the growing need for in-line etch, deposition, and planarization process metrology 45nm node and beyond. It is equipped with SEMI(r) compliant automation, ISO Class 2 certified clean hardware and meets all ergonomic and safety certifications needed for production line equipment.

Robert Stoner, ZYGO’s Vice President, Metrology, made the following comment, “This commitment is a strong endorsement of our strategic product roadmap by an important customer. It is also a measure of our success in building a world-class team focused on the semiconductor process control market. We believe ZYGO’s technology leadership will allow us to increase our market share of noncontact optical metrology into the semiconductor front end manufacturing process.”

Zygo Corporation (NASDAQ: ZIGO), headquartered in Middlefield, Connecticut, is a worldwide supplier of optical metrology instruments, precision optics, and electro-optical design and manufacturing services, serving customers in the semiconductor capital equipment and industrial markets. See ZYGO’s web site at www.zygo.com for additional information.

All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this news release regarding our financial position, business strategy, plans, anticipated growth rates, and objectives of management of the Company for future operations are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are intended to provide management’s current expectations or plans for the future operating and financial performance of the Company based upon information currently available and assumptions currently believed to be valid. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plans,” “strategy,” “project,” and other words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors. Among the important factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are fluctuations in capital spending of our customers, fluctuations in net sales to our major customer, manufacturing and supplier risks, dependence on and timing of new product development, rapid technological and market change, risks in international operations, dependence on proprietary technology and key personnel, length of the sales cycle, environmental regulations, and fluctuations in our stock price. Further information on potential factors that could affect Zygo Corporation’s business is described in our reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 10-K, as amended, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2005.

For Further Information Call:
Walter A. Shephard
Vice President Finance, CFO, and Treasurer
Voice: 860-704-3955
[email protected]

SOURCE: Zygo Corporation

September 13, 2006 — /FDA News/ — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reminding companies that manufacture human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps) that they must comply with FDA regulations.

The issuance of the guidance to industry follows two recently identified cases of serious violations of safety requirements pertaining to the recovery of tissues, and subsequent FDA actions to stop the operations. This guidance is intended to ensure that companies involved in any or all steps in the recovery, processing, storage, labeling, packaging, or distribution of any human cell or tissue, and screening or testing of the cell or tissue donor, are aware of their regulatory responsibilities.

“Patient safety is our primary concern,” said Jesse Goodman, MD, MPH, director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). “This guidance serves to emphasize the important role that manufacturers play in enhancing tissue safety by helping to ensure that those that perform work for them also comply with the regulations. This is consistent with the efforts, which we applaud, of professional associations to foster quality and compliance with FDA regulations by all involved.”

Current good tissue practices (CGTP) require manufacturers to recover, process, store, label, package and distribute human cells or tissues in a way that prevents the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases and prevents contamination during manufacturing. All tissue establishments are required to comply with the regulations applicable to the manufacturing steps they perform. FDA will act as needed to ensure that tissue establishments, including tissue recovery firms, are in full compliance with applicable requirements. However, another important safeguard is the requirement that, if a manufacturer enters into a contract, agreement or other arrangement with another establishment to perform any step in the manufacturing process (such as recovery), the manufacturer takes steps to ensure that such an establishment also complies with applicable CGTPs. Such steps have already been very important in helping identify and correct potential problems.

In addition to this action, FDA’s Human Tissue Task Force (http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01440.html) will complete a comprehensive evaluation of the first year of implementation of the agency’s newly promulgated regulations which require manufacturers to comply with CGTP and donor eligibility requirements. These requirements were finalized in 2005. The task force, which is led by senior FDA officials, was established as part of the agency’s efforts to strengthen its risk-based system for regulating human cells and tissue.

For a copy of the guidance, visit: http://www.fda.gov/cber/gdlns/cgtpmanuf.htm

Media Inquiries:
Paul Richards, 301-827-6242
Consumer Inquiries:
888-INFO-FDA

September 8, 2006 — /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — MIDLAND, Mich. — The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) has announced the formation of Dow Water Solutions, a business unit comprised of world-class brands and enabling component technologies designed to advance the science of desalination, water purification, contaminant removal and water recycling.

The new business becomes the Company’s fourth market facing business. Applying similar business models as Dow Building Solutions, Dow Automotive and Dow AgroSciences, the unit will focus on proactively meeting the needs of the Company’s water industry customers by leveraging the full breadth and depth of capabilities and technologies found within its value centers and across the Company.

“This move underscores Dow’s commitment to strengthen its Performance business portfolio by prioritizing marketing and application development activities that support high-value, end-use applications,” explained Andrew Liveris, chairman and chief executive officer, The Dow Chemical Company. “Dow Water Solutions will provide a range of competitive water treatment products that allow our customers to stimulate and capture industry growth, while continuing to improve access to higher quality water supplies that are more affordable and sustainable for communities and industries worldwide.”

Part of Dow’s strategy is to focus on developing more technology-driven, market facing businesses to accelerate a portfolio shift to Performance businesses, driving higher growth and more consistent profitability for the Company. The new framework for Dow Water Solutions also further solidifies Dow’s commitment to provide pure water for both industrial and drinking water applications globally as part of the Company’s Sustainability Goals for 2015, announced in May 2006.

“Core to our pursuit of market facing businesses, we will leverage our intimate knowledge of the water industry value chain to work with cities, countries and customers everywhere to apply our best thinking and technology in response to the world’s growing needs for clean water,” said Romeo Kreinberg, Dow’s executive vice president, Performance Plastics and Chemicals portfolio. “Dow is dedicated to this business and to the customers and consumers who will benefit from our expansion into this area.”

With revenues of approximately $350 million, Dow Water Solutions is a performance business unit that maintains five production facilities globally to manufacture, market and sell FILMTEC(TM) reverse osmosis membranes, DOWEX(TM) ion exchange resins, ultrafiltration, and electrodeionization products and other technologies. With over 1,000 employees worldwide, the business is well-positioned to capture much of the industry growth of water and non-water treatment and separations solutions.

“Over the years, we have developed and acquired a selective portfolio of complementary components that are critical to the functionality of water purification systems,” said Ian Barbour, general manager, Dow Water Solutions. “Through our technology leadership and expertise in component manufacturing, we are building a leading portfolio of key technologies necessary to address target market needs.”

Dow recently expanded its portfolio with three new component technologies, namely Ultrafiltration (UF), Electrodeionization (EDI), and Membrane Bio-Reactors (MBR), through the acquisition of Zhejiang Omex Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd. in July 2006. These technologies will be included in the Dow Water Solutions portfolio, along with existing product offerings in reverse osmosis and ion exchange.

Both UF and MBR are critical to water re-use applications and UF enables the water treatment providers to meet more stringent water quality standards. Dow is already an established leader in reverse osmosis/nanofiltration (RO/NF) membranes and ion exchange resins.

Through development and optimization of these technologies, Dow will offer solutions for specific water purification needs, including seawater desalination, water re-use and small community drinking water systems.

“By offering components as stand-alone or in combination, we can provide our OEMs with additional value that they could not achieve on their own. We have found that these complementary processes enable production of the highest quality water at the lowest attainable cost,” said Barbour.

As part of its commitment to water purification, Dow Water Solutions has also announced the successful start-up of the expansion of the FILMTEC(TM) reverse osmosis membrane manufacturing facility at Edina, Minnesota. Dow also recently formed a partnership with Blue Planet Run Foundation to raise awareness and funds for water purification projects.

About The Dow Chemical Company

Dow is a diversified chemical company that harnesses the power of science and technology to improve living daily. The Company offers a broad range of innovative products and services to customers in more than 175 countries, helping them to provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. Built on a commitment to its principles of sustainability, Dow has annual sales of $46 billion and employs 42,000 people worldwide. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.

Source: The Dow Chemical Company

CONTACT: Chris Huntley of The Dow Chemical Company, +1-989-636-2876

Web site: http://www.dow.com/

September 12, 2006– /BUSINESS WIRE/ — SAN DIEGO — Bio-Matrix Scientific Group Inc. (OTCBB:BMSN), a biotechnology company focused on stem cell cryogenics and disposable stem cell / tissue transfer instruments, announced today that Clean Rooms West has started the installation process of its modular class 10,000/100 Stem Cell Processing laboratory. Bio-Matrix Scientific is now entering into the final phase of renovation and construction of its 15,000 sq ft Stem Cell Cryogenic Bank.

Clean Rooms West has begun the preparatory work for the installation of the modular clean which has been built to Bio-Matrix’ specifications. The laboratory will house the company’s stem cell processing systems. It is anticipated the actual lab will arrive later this week, with final completion scheduled for the first part of October 2006.

Following an intense, best value search, Bio-Matrix Scientific selected Clean Rooms West as the prime contractor to design, develop, build and install the new class 10,000 processing laboratory.

Brian Pockett, Managing Director and COO, stated, “The construction and completion of this laboratory is a major step towards our ability to accept and process adult stem cells.”

Bio-Matrix’ new 15,000 sq ft state-of-the-art, located in the heart of the San Diego biotechnology will house Bio-Matrix’ secure Cryogenic Stem Cell Bank, 3 Research laboratories, aseptic cellular/tissue class 10,000/100 processing laboratory, hematology, microbiology and flow cytometry laboratories.

About Bio-Matrix Scientific Group Inc.

Bio-Matrix Scientific Group Inc. (www.BMXGonline.com), is a biotech research and development Company that commercializes medical devices and monitoring systems for the growing, worldwide stem cell research market.

The Company aligns itself with strategic partners that offer key technologies in biomedical device development, tissue engineering, cell culturing, genome therapy and drug delivery systems to become a leading source for stem cell research technology and innovation and is building a state-of-the-art facility in San Diego, California, to cater to the growing stem cell research segment of the $75 billion biotechnology and medical device industry.

DISCLAIMER: This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties to which forward-looking statements are subject include, but are not limited to, the effect of government regulation, competition and other material risks.

Contacts
Bio-Matrix Scientific Group Inc.
Investor Relations, 619-398-3517
[email protected]
or
AGORA Investor Relations
[email protected]
http://www.agoracom.com/IR/Bio-Matrix

Distinguished scientists from academia and industry to be honored for their contributions to the advancement of science

September 13, 2006 — /PITTCON/ — Pittsburgh, PA — The Pittsburgh Conference announced today the recipients of twelve prestigious annual awards that recognize the significant contributions of leaders in the fields of Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy. The awards will be presented at Pittcon, February 25 – March 2, 2007, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. Each award is presented during a symposium honoring the recipient and his/her achievements. The awardees represent diverse scientific disciplines including separations science, bioanalytical science, vibrational spectroscopy, chromatography, electrochemistry, microfluidics, and sensors.

Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award: Robert M. Corn, University of California at Irvine
Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award: Jonathan V. Sweedler, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
The Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award: Shana Kelley, Boston College
Pittcon Heritage Award: David Schwartz, Chairman of the Board, Bio-Rad Laboratories
ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award Symposium for Young Investigators in Separation Science: Christopher T. Culbertson, Kansas State University
The Ralph N. Adams Award in Bioanalytical Chemistry: Norman Dovichi, University of Washington
Maurice F. Hasler Award: D. Bruce Chase, DuPont Corporation
Chromatography Forum of Delaware Valley Dal Nogare Award: John Dolan, LC Resources
Charles N. Reilley Award: George S. Wilson, University of Kansas
The SEAC Young Investigator Award: Mary Elizabeth Williams, Pennsylvania State University
Tomas Hirschfeld Award: Gerard M. Downey, Teagasc
Williams-Wright Award: Michael Carraba, Hach Homeland Security Technologies

A complete listing and description for all award symposia can be found at http://www.pittcon.org.

About Pittcon
Pittcon® is a registered trademark of The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, a Pennsylvania non-profit organization. Pittcon is a conference and exposition on scientific instrumentation and the premier meeting place for the inventors, users, manufacturers, and vendors of laboratory instruments, equipment and supplies. Pittcon features the world’s largest exposition of instrumentation, cutting-edge technical programs, and topical short courses. Proceeds from Pittcon fund science education and outreach at all levels, kindergarten through adult. Pittcon donates nearly a million dollars each year in the form of science equipment grants, research grants, scholarships and internships for students, awards to teachers and professors, and grants to public science centers, libraries and museums. For more information visit www.pittcon.org.

Media Contacts:
Marian Nardozzi
412-825-3220 x 203
[email protected]

Adrian C. Michael
[email protected]

Recall — Firm Press Release

FDA posts press releases and other notices of recalls and market withdrawals from the firms involved as a service to consumers, the media, and other interested parties. FDA does not endorse either the product or the company.

September 7, 2006 — /FDA News/ — Watsonville, CA — Monterey Mushrooms of Watsonville, CA is recalling approximately 10,000 cases of fresh sliced white mushrooms and fresh sliced baby bella mushrooms, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Fresh sliced mushrooms were distributed from Monterey’s location in Temple, PA into the northeastern states of Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia through retail stores and produce market channels.

These fresh sliced mushrooms were packaged for retail stores in 4 oz, 6 oz, 8 oz, and 16 oz foam tills and 10 oz plastic bags with code dates 237 through 247.

No illnesses have been reported to date. The mushrooms are labeled “Wash before using”; however, Listeria monocytogenes may not be removed with washing. Cooking will destroy the organism.

Monterey received a positive test result for Listeria on their 6 oz sliced Baby Bella product through a random product sampling by the Ohio State Department of Agriculture. No complaints of illnesses have been reported. The company believes the source of potential contamination has been identified and corrected, effective September 5, 2006.

Monterey initiated a voluntary recall on September 6, 2006 based on preliminary information. Most product has already been removed from distribution. All OTHER sliced mushrooms from Monterey’s Temple, PA facility should be considered safe as of this date.

Consumers who have purchased Monterey Mushrooms’ fresh sliced white or Baby Bella mushrooms in these states are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-800-333-6874.

Contact:
Monterey Mushrooms, Inc.
1-800-333-6874

August 29, 2006 — /PRNewswire/ — EMERYVILLE, Calif. — New Logic Research, Inc., the maker of VSEP, a vibratory membrane filtration system, announced today the sale of a VSEP system to create steam quality water from oilfield produced brine at a BreitBurn Energy facility in Santa Barbara, County, California. BreitBurn is a subsidiary of Provident Energy Ltd., a Canadian energy trust.

The VSEP system, which employs both nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes, is fed process water used in the oil production process. The VSEP product water (permeate) is cleaner than drinking water, and will be reused as the plant’s boiler feed water.

“We’re very proud to be BreitBurn’s choice for produced water recycling technology,” said New Logic CEO Greg Johnson. “BreitBurn has always distinguished itself from its competitors by embracing cutting-edge technologies. Adding VSEP to their existing infrastructure is a logical extension of that ideal.”

In evaluating the process options for water recycling at the plant, BreitBurn’s engineers considered other membrane-based technologies, as well as traditional approaches to produced water cleanup. After on-site trials were completed, however, BreitBurn determined that the VSEP system provided the most elegant, cost-effective solution capable of removing the contaminants and providing the needed boiler feed water, thus eliminating the need for expensive pretreatment and chemical usage.

“BreitBurn has always excelled at deriving maximum value from its oilfield assets while practicing good environmental stewardship. By using the VSEP technology to clean up oilfield brine instead of using fresher and scarcer ground water, we are able to simultaneously reduce our operating costs and our impact on the water resources of Santa Barbara County,” said Michael Tolbert, Project Manager for Steam Operations at BreitBurn.

According to New Logic CTO Dr. Brad Culkin, “New Logic has always seen tremendous potential in VSEP for produced water treatment — both onshore and offshore — due to VSEP’s unique capabilities for high recovery and high tolerance of hydrocarbons. After many years of research and pilot testing on produced water in locations including California, the North Sea, Latin America and Alberta’s Oil Sands, we see the BreitBurn project as the first in a long line of successful produced water installations worldwide.”

BreitBurn’s VSEP system is currently being built at New Logic’s Emeryville, CA facility, and will be commissioned this autumn.

About New Logic Research, Inc.

Headquartered in Emeryville, California, New Logic Research is the leading provider of high-performance membrane filtration systems used in a wide variety of applications from pure water and wastewater treatment to chemical process clarifications. Founded in 1987, New Logic has grown to meet the needs of its ever-expanding customer base, which includes major corporations from around the world. Today, New Logic provides a breadth of products and services for pure water and wastewater treatment, industrial and chemical processing, power, pulp and paper, oil and gas production and processing, paint and pigments and electronics industries. For more information, please visit New Logic’s Web site at http://www.vsep.com/.

Contact:
Josh Miller
New Logic Research, Inc.
Phone: (510) 655-7305 x.210
Fax: (510) 655-7307
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.vsep.com/

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com/.

Source: New Logic Research, Inc.

CONTACT: Josh Miller of New Logic Research, Inc., +1-510-655-7305 x.210,
Fax +1-510-655-7307, or [email protected]

Web site: http://www.vsep.com/

August 30, 2006 — /IEST/ — ROLLING MEADOWS, IL — The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) will hold its annual Fall Conference at a new venue this year, the Hilton Garden Inn in Hoffman Estates (northwest Chicago suburb), Illinois. The conference will take place November 5-8, 2006. Details about working group meetings, educational courses, and registration are now available on the IEST website at http://www.iest.org/fallconference/fallconference.htm.

The Fall Conference will feature contamination control working group meetings, as well as a variety of tutorial classes covering issues related to cleanrooms and controlled environments. A new tutorial and a new working group session will be meeting for the first time at the 2006 Fall Conference.

The new tutorial offered this year is Applying Risk Management to Contamination Control. The course will focus on the three risk assessment methods – Fault Tree; Failure Modes and Effect Analysis; and Fishbone.

There will also be a Certificate in ISO Testing. The tutorials included in this series are Understanding the ISO 14644 Series (includes copy of ISO 14644-2: Specifications for Testing and Monitoring to Prove Continued Compliance with ISO 14644-1); Testing to Determine the Classification of Air Cleanliness – ISO 14644-1 (includes copy of ISO 14644-1: Classification of Air Cleanliness); and Testing Cleanroom Performance Using ISO 14644-3 (includes copy of ISO 14644-3: Test Methods). These tutorials can be taken as part of the certificate program or separately.

In conjunction with IEST becoming a founding member of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies, a tutorial on Nanotechnology Facility Design and Construction: The Next Generation of Cleanrooms will be offered to attendees.

The new working group, Liquid Particle Counters, will hold its inaugural meeting at the 2006 IEST Fall Conference. This working group will focus on liquid-borne particle measurement in the semiconductor industry, which mainly concerns particles in the submicron range. It will emphasize the usage of liquid-borne particle counters (LPC), not the calibration of LPCs. All interested persons are invited and encouraged to attend this new working group meeting, where the latest ideas will be discussed for use in a Recommended Practice. Join your peers in sharing exciting developments in this new area of interest.

More information about IEST can be found at www.iest.org, or by calling (847) 255-1561.

Founded in 1953, IEST is an international not-for-profit technical society of engineers, scientists, and educators that serves its members and the industries they represent (simulating, testing, controlling, and teaching the environments of earth and space) through education and the development of recommended practices and standards.

IEST is an ANSI-accredited standards-developing organization; Secretariat of ISO/TC 209 Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments; Administrator of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 209; Administrator of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 142 Cleaning equipment for air and other gases; and a founding member of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies.

CONTACT
Heather Dvorak, Marketing Associate
IEST
5005 Newport Drive, Suite 506
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008-3841
Phone: (847) 255-1561
Fax: (847) 255-1699
[email protected]

Study presented at International Transfusion Congress shows Pall eBDS effective with both red cells and platelets

September 5, 2006 — EAST HILLS, N.Y.–Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) announced the CE marking of its eBDS System to detect bacterial contamination of red blood cells, the most widely transfused blood component. The Pall eBDS is a highly sensitive culture-based test routinely used by blood centers to detect bacterial contamination of platelets, the leading infectious cause of sickness and death from a transfusion. Results of a new study presented at the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) 2006 Congress show the efficacy of the system in also detecting bacteria that are commonly found as contaminants of red blood cells.

Since the availability of the Pall eBDS for detection of bacteria in platelets, there has been interest in applying the same technology to improve safety of red blood cells. Recent studies have documented sepsis and death caused by transfusion of contaminated red cells, with the bacteria Yersinia enterocolitica most often implicated. The U.S. FDA estimates that the rate of bacteria associated adverse reactions from Yersinia is one per 500,000 units of red cells, although they note that this rate may be underestimated. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates bacterial contamination of red blood cells at one per million units whereas other nations have reported incidence as high as one in 65,000 units with a fatality rate of one in 104,400 units.

Despite the unknown actual number of cases, there is no question that transfusion of a contaminated red blood cell, especially if contaminated with gram-negative bacteria, is a rapid and catastrophic event with a quick onset of sepsis and greater than 60 percent mortality rate. Multiple studies have also documented a link between transfusion of red blood cells with nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infection. Critically ill patients who receive red cell transfusions are at increased risk of a nosocomial infection with a significant increase in mortality and/or length of stay in intensive care.

“Adding bacterial detection of red cells along with platelets can have a significant impact on the safety of the blood supply,” says Allan Ross, President, Pall Medical. “The blood centers that employ the Pall eBDS for platelet testing can simply and readily use it to detect bacteria in red cells. This is a highly cost-effective way to help them ensure they can provide the safest blood for transfusion.”

The Pall eBDS uses a novel approach to detection by measuring oxygen consumption as the marker for bacteria. If bacteria are present in the blood sample collected, an increasing amount of oxygen is consumed through the metabolic activity and proliferation of the bacteria during incubation, resulting in a measurable decrease in oxygen content.

The study presented to the ISBT tested the Pall eBDS on 662 red blood cell samples that had been inoculated separately with twelve different bacteria strains. Each sample was tested after 48 hours resulting in 100 percent detection of the contaminating bacteria. Pall, the leading global provider of filtration and other technologies to enhance the safety of the blood supply, conducted this study in response to the need to reduce the problem of bacterial contamination of blood components.

#1 Infectious Source of Transfusion-Transmitted Disease

There has been an astounding reduction in the risk of viral infections from a blood transfusion, especially with routine testing for viruses that cause diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS. As a result of these advances, the risk of infection from bacterial contamination of blood products exceeds that from viral agents and has emerged as the greatest residual infectious source of transfusion-transmitted disease.

Bacterial contamination is most often found in platelets and the use of a sensitive culture-based detection test, such as the Pall eBDS, is helping solve the problem. Since the introduction of Pall’s Acrodose(TM) PL System, more blood centers are moving forward in providing whole-blood derived platelets to alleviate platelet shortages. It allows blood centers to efficiently conduct a single culture-based bacterial contamination test for a bacteria-free, transfusion-ready therapeutic dose of platelets. Using the Pall eBDS, these centers will be able to ensure that red cells derived from whole blood collection are also free from contaminating bacteria.

As some nations urge greater use of autologous red blood cells (a person’s own pre-donated blood) for transfusion, especially for non-emergency surgical patients, concerns about the safety of this blood has become more paramount. It is not generally appreciated that autologous blood may not be safe from bacteria and can become contaminated whether it’s from environmental factors, skin contamination at the time of donation or during the handling and processing after collection. In the U.S., one in 16,999 autologous units has 12 times more likely risk of contamination than those associated with community donations from healthy individuals. Japan is one of the nations currently investigating bacteria contamination of autologous red cells and is using the Pall eBDS as one of its study methods. Testing autologous red blood cells for bacteria can ensure it’s safe use to help conserve and supplement the blood supply to alleviate emerging blood inventory shortages.

About Pall

Pall Corporation is the global leader in the rapidly growing field of filtration, separations and purification. Pall’s business is organized around two broad markets: Life Sciences and Industrial. The Company provides leading-edge products to meet the demanding needs of customers in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, transfusion medicine, semiconductor, water purification, aerospace and broad industrial markets. Total revenues for fiscal 2005 were $1.9 billion. The Company headquarters is in East Hills, New York with extensive operations throughout the world. Visit Pall at www.pall.com.

CONTACT: Pall Corporation
Media:
Marcia Katz, 516-801-9851
[email protected]
or
Investor Relations:
Patricia Iannucci, 516-801-9848
[email protected]