COPAN prides itself on being a company synonymous with innovation in pre-analytics, and as so, it always looks for ways to improve its products to ensure the best quality specimen collection and transport devices on the market.

COPAN is proud to announce new state-of-the-art active VI-PAK packaging for its successful line of ESwab. ESwab™ comprises of a nylon^® flocked swab and  1mL of modified Liquid Amies, and it is COPAN’s truly open collection and transport platform suitable for Microbiology automation, Gram stains, and traditional culture, just to name a few of the applications. ESwab™ is a multipurpose collection and transport system that maintains viability of aerobic, anaerobic and fastidious bacteria for up to 48 hours at room and refrigerator temperature. The versatility and superior performance of ESwab™ has contributed to the product’s rising popularity among the Microbiology community in recent years.

VI-PAK is the new convenient Shelf Pack unit of measures that medical and technical staff will see from now onward when they use ESwab and it will contain 50 collection kits. VI-Pak for ESwab™ presents many technical advantages over conventional packaging. The distinctive VI-PAK metallic appearance is due to the high-tech composite of metallic foil and barrier plastic film proven to provide the ultimate product protection and shelf life stability. It creates a closed system for maintaining optimum performance of the medium over its long shelf life.

VI-PAK barrier outer foil packs block oxygen entry providing another barrier to oxidation of the transport medium and protects against any media degradation from direct sunlight VI-PAK also extends the product shelf life by preventing dehydration of the liquid medium before the end of product’s shelf life. “Introduction of VI-PAK is an all-round technical improvement for users; it occupies less space and weighs less than traditional packaging, protects the product better and improves the overall integrity and microbial performance and that is always our goal,” states Norman Sharples, CEO of COPAN Diagnostics, Inc. “VI-PAK packaging has been successfully used by COPAN to pack our traditional line of collection and transport swabs for many years. So, it was a natural progression to adopt the same groundbreaking packaging to our successful ESwab™ line” adds Sharples.

COPAN always strives to implement product improvements to differentiate its products from its competitors in terms of superior quality and unrivaled product performance. “VI- PAK is COPAN’s proven proprietary barrier outer foil package, and it is a great addition to our ESwab™ line,” concluded Sharples.

About COPAN Diagnostics, Inc.

With a reputation for innovation in preanalytics, COPAN Diagnostics is the leading manufacturer of collection and transport systems in the world. COPAN offers a complete range of microbial sampling products used for traditional culture analysis and for molecular diagnostic assays, as well as producing innovations, like the patented Flocked Swabs, Universal Transport Medium and ESwab.

The company manufactures a comprehensive line of laboratory consumables comprising of inoculation loops, needles, spreaders and transfer pipettes. COPAN also produces WASP: Walk-Away Specimen Processor, a revolutionary system for automatic planting and streaking of microbiology samples. For more information about COPAN, visit www.copanusa.com.