QualTex Laboratories launches testing automation system in San Antonio

QualTex Laboratories, a subsidiary of San Antonio-based nonprofit BioBridge Global, has begun testing blood and plasma donations on its second automated track system, expanding its capabilities in its San Antonio laboratory.

The Abbott Accelerator a3600 Laboratory Automation System is just the third one installed at a donor testing facility in the United States. The second was at the QualTex Laboratories facility in Norcross, Georgia. The combined systems give QualTex Laboratories the largest automated testing setup in the country.

Ward Carter, Chief Operating Officer of QualTex Laboratories, said the addition of the automation system in San Antonio benefits both customers and staff.

“The track system will help us further improve testing turnaround times, so blood and plasma centers will get their results even faster,” he said. “It also helps us maintain our high standards for testing quality. This is critically important, as we test about 9 million donors annually.

“Our laboratory personnel will be doing fewer routine tasks, like loading and unloading centrifuges. Instead, they’re going to work on more technical aspects of the preanalytical processes such as customer order exceptions, result release and analytical review of test results.”

The track system in San Antonio includes the Abbott Alinity s system, which was tested at QualTex Laboratories during its development. The Alinity s system can run 600 tests per hour and is more compact than most previous viral disease testing devices.

The next phase of QualTex Laboratories expansion is underway in its microbiology and cellular therapy reference laboratory. This additional growth will allow QualTex to expand its capabilities and provide testing services for characterization, purity and potency for organizations working on regenerative medicine therapies.

QualTex Laboratories is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit testing laboratories, providing FDA-mandated testing services on blood, plasma, tissue and organ donations at its locations in San Antonio and Atlanta.