STARLIMS News – May 2012
STARLIMS News Notes
May 2012
STARLIMS to Provide LIMS to Australian Red Cross
Samsung Biologics Chooses STARLIMS
STARLIMS Expanding Global Market Presence in Forensics
Global Expansion Continues: STARLIMS Acquires Australian Distributor
About STARLIMS
STARLIMS, an Abbott Company, helps laboratories optimize data accessibility, integrity, defensibility and long-term value. The company has nearly 25 years of experience working with hundreds of laboratories, in the public health, environmental, petrochemical, forensic, pharmaceutical, clinical and diagnostic sectors.
STARLIMS solutions are based on the same award-winning platform that has helped hundreds of labs around the world achieve their analytical, regulatory and business objectives. Its unified web-based platform includes award-winning Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), as well as an Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) and a Scientific Data Management System (SDMS).
STARLIMS to Provide LIMS to Australian Red Cross Blood Services
STARLIMS announced that its LIMS software has been adopted by the Australian Red Cross Blood Services (ARCBS) to manage information and data in its blood products manufacturing and transplantation laboratories. ARCBS collects and processes nearly 30,000 blood donations every week in Australia.
STARLIMS will be the first comprehensive LIMS system ARCBS will use for its laboratories. It will unify data from several antiquated systems into a single advanced system. ARCBS Chief Executive Jennifer Williams said maintaining quality processes in a regulated environment was becoming increasingly complex as the need for blood continued to grow.
“Maintaining quality processes in a regulated environment is becoming increasingly complex, and ensuring that our products are prepared in accordance with the highest quality standards is paramount to the ongoing success of our organization,” said Williams. “The Blood Service must continually invest in and update its informatics technology to support our business processes in the most effective and efficient manner. We believe that STARLIMS provides us with a great partnership opportunity.”
She added that ARCBS chose STARLIMS because its LIMS software offers the versatility to handle the needs and requirements for both the manufacturing and transplantation labs and provides a convenient and versatile web-based platform, which allows users throughout the country to access the system.
Further, the organization believes STARLIMS can help solve a number of informatics problems by reducing dependence on hard copy documentation and manual data transcription, combining fragmented and duplicative data bases, improving test processing time by cutting down on non-electronic communication of results, and improving workflow and overall integration with other support systems in the laboratories.
“We are very pleased to support Australian Red Cross Blood Services, and look forward to helping maximize the advantages of STARLIMS functionality and flexibility in supporting their complex testing and reporting processes,” said Linus Chu, general manager, STARLIMS Asia Pacific.
ARCBS operates laboratories in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and its transplantation services provide testing services for solid organ and bone marrow transplant procedures. ARCBS has 2,200 employees and relies on 2,500 volunteers and 500,000 donors to protect and maintain the country’s blood supply.
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Samsung Biologics Chooses STARLIMS
Samsung is known for electronics not biotechnology, but that could change in future years as Samsung Biologics has opened a new state of the art biologics development and production facility in Incheon, Korea. To assure ongoing compliance with biologics manufacturing quality standards, Samsung BioLogics chose STARLIMS to be its LIMS provider.
“STARLIMS will provide Samsung its LIMS software to help enhance functional support for quality assurance laboratory testing and for storing and delivering analytical test results,” said Thomas Li, account manager, STARLIMS Asia Pacific. “STARLIMS passed a thorough audit and evaluation by Samsung Biologics, which demonstrates our capability to support the business needs of a world class customer operating a large contract product development and manufacturing facility.”
The new Incheon facility will develop and manufacture a wide range of biologics products through genetic engineering technologies, cell culturing and purification. By 2013, Samsung Biologics will offer a broad range of mammalian cell based, cGMP manufacturing services for cell line development, process and analytical development, clinical and commercial manufacturing, as well as aseptic fill and finish operations.
“Our biologics facility is capable of producing high quality bulk drug products. We are pleased that our quality control department is relying on STARLIMS leading edge laboratory informatics solutions to help guarantee that all process and final production are high quality, meet global regulatory standards, and maximize customer satisfaction,” said Ming fang Hong, quality control team leader, Samsung Biologics.
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STARLIMS Expanding Global Market Presence in Forensics
STARLIMS is expanding its worldwide presence in the forensics market with products and applications designed for crime labs, evidence collection teams and police property rooms.
The company is building a strong presence and reputation in crime labs, and early adopters are pleased with the performance and workflow enhancements to its web-based LIMS software. Timothy French, DNA analyst for the Beaufort County (SC) Sheriff’s Office, decided it was time to use an outside LIMS provider when the waiting time for DNA tests results from the state crime lab reached a year or longer.
“We needed a commercial system to create our own DNA database and did not want to use multiple software programs,” said French. “Our lab was sort of a guinea pig early on for STARLIMS in forensics. When evidence comes into the lab, the DNA results are logged into the system and we generate reports that go to the requesting officer and the clerk of the court. STARLIMS has a rich set of functionalities that meets our needs very well,” said French. “We get faster results from STARLIMS than we did when we had a staff person on the next floor tweaking a home grown system.”
French said the forensics services laboratory lab handles about 9,000 cases a year, of which 8,000 are drug analysis and 1,000 require DNA evidence testing.
For crime labs, STARLIMS offers a complete laboratory informatics solution that includes crime scene inventories, property management and courtroom testimony tracking. It is a paperless system that helps ensure compliance with regulatory standards, reduces costs, minimizes errors, and produces timely reports that help police and prosecutors make informed decisions.
At crime scenes, police don’t get a second chance to collect evidence. On arrival, they must secure the site and begin a meticulous process of inspecting, gathering and recording all available evidence. It’s a thorough job that requires precise attention to detail. STARLIMS allows comprehensive documentation of the crime scene without needing to re-enter manually transcribed information, and evidence technicians can generate crime scene reports on the spot. There’s no need for paper log books or complex multiple data management programs.
“With STARLIMS, the crime scene process is bag it, tag it and track it. Collect and package the evidence, barcode it, and retrieve in the system when necessary using a barcode scanner,” said Robin Gall, PhD, forensics product manager, STARLIMS.
Gall said mobile informatics apps are on the way from STARLIMS that will enable investigators to document everything at a crime scene using a tablet computer. At its Forum users meeting in February, STARLIMS previewed its Next Gen designer which allows users to develop, deploy and maintain HTML5 apps for both iOS and Android platforms. Gall said the soon-to-be-introduced mobile crime scene and property room modules will seamlessly interact with the core LIMS web-based software and has the same barcode and chain of custody features.
For DNA analysis, the Tokyo Forensic Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) implemented STARLIMS DNA LIMS solution to automate creation of DNA profiles from family members of earthquake and tsunami victims and help expedite identification. MPD anticipated using the system for at least a year to process the huge volume of specimens, but they continue to work with it for the ongoing victim identification effort. After processing and analysis, the DNA profiles are sent back to the originating police jurisdictions for further comparisons.
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Global Expansion Continues: STARLIMS Acquires Distributor in Australia
Abbott announced it has acquired STARLIMS’s Asia Pacific distribution partner, currently operating as STARLIMS Australasia. The organization will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Abbott operating under the name STARLIMS Australasia. The acquisition will support and the Asia Pacific LIMS business and help accelerate growth in Australia and New Zealand, as well as other Asia Pacific markets. STARLIMS Australasia will become part of the STARLIMS Asia Pacific organization.
Established in 2008, STARLIMS Australasia has overseen marketing, pre-sales, sales, implementation and ongoing technical and professional services in the region. It successfully implemented STARLIMS in major accounts, such as Victoria Police, which employs a LIMS and Seized Property system serving 200 forensic scientists and 30,000 policemen in the State of Victoria.
Robert Blunden, regional director, STARLIMS Australasia, will continue to lead the organization and will help transition the business to STARLIMS and Abbott. He and twenty employees located in Australia and New Zealand will join Abbott as part of the STARLIMS business.
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