UV disinfection specialist Hanovia, based in Slough, Berkshire, UK, has supplied three UV water disinfection systems to the Institute of Medical Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Kunming, China.
The PharmaLine PQL units destroy any unwanted micro-organism in the purified water used in the production of vaccines. They also display the verified ultraviolet irradiation dose online, further reducing the risk of microbial contamination.
The Institute of Medical Biology is the largest oral, anti-poliomyelitis vaccine production base in China. Since the 1960s it has produced over five billion vaccines for the National Planned Child Immunisation programme in China. It is also the largest Chinese base for the development of Hepatitis A vaccines.
When a new production facility was built last year, the Institute opted for Hanovia’s PharmaLine PQL UV technology.
Shen Feng, Senior Engineer and Water Treatment Equipment expert at the Institute, said that compared with other UV disinfection systems, Hanovia’s PharmaLine PQL offers validated disinfection that has been certified by an independent third party. Displaying the UV dose online meets the stringent requirements of the pharmaceutical industry for verification and risk management.
Purified water has had almost all electrolytes removed, making it as inert as possible. The removal of any potential microbial contamination is, of course, also vital. Purified water is also an essential raw material for the production of vaccines and indicators (TOC, bacterial endotoxins, micro-organisms, pH and conductivity) required in the pharmacopeia of many countries. Of these indicators, all but micro-organisms and bacterial endotoxins can be controlled by water preparation technology.
Hanovia says UV kills 99.9% of the micro-organisms, ensuring the concentration in purified water remains at ≤5cfu/ml. UV also does not produce any unwanted disinfection by-products that might contaminate the purified water downstream.