Mycoplasma is a small, slow-growing and self-replicating bacteria, which is difficult to detect and eliminate. Mycoplasma contamination can have expensive consequences for biopharmaceutical manufacturers, who must often destroy an entire drug batch and shut down production facilities for an extended period when mycoplasma contamination is detected.
Cutting detection time to four hours, Millipore's MilliPROBE Detection System for Mycoplasma enables biopharmaceutical manufacturers to test more frequently and take corrective action earlier in the production process, reducing financial risks and optimizing product yields.
Roland Heinrich, Millipore vice president, Process Monitoring said: “The MilliPROBE system is unique because it can be operated by technicians with limited molecular training, while meeting the stringent requirements of the biopharmaceutical quality control lab. It includes a novel Millipore sample preparation device designed to handle complex bioreactor samples in larger volumes than other mycoplasma testing products. It also includes Gen-Probe’s new Background Reduction Technology (the first of its kind), which protects the assay from contamination that can cause false positive results—a prevalent testing problem representing substantial financial risk for customers.
