Ultimate Labs is a newly ISO 9001 certified microbiological testing and environmental monitoring company located in the heart of San Diego’s biotech community in the USA, and has recently introduced the Ulti-Pak, a new system to store and transport laboratory samples to prevent contamination. The Ulti-Pak is a fully self-contained system comprised of a branded container and sealed media plates, and includes delivery of ready-to-use containers to customers’ sites and pick-up of samples for automated lab testing, all performed by Ultimate Labs.
“We developed the Ulti-Pak to simplify and secure the lab testing process,” explains Kim Lim, the company’s founder and CEO. “In our experience, when plate samples need to be sent to a lab, there is a long and inefficient process of finding packing materials, attempting to securely pack the samples, and hoping they would make it to the lab without contamination. Our Ulti-Pak system solves the time and contamination issues through sealed, compact containers that we will pick up in our company vehicles and test in our labs. We focus on innovation and maintain FDA and ISO regulations to create new products and services to offer the fastest, most accurate test results for our customers.”
The Ulti-Pak system
The Ulti-Pak cooling containers can store up to 40 55-mm media plates or 20 100-mm media plates, and contain ice packs that cool the contents for up to eight hours, assuring the integrity of the samples.
Broad service to life sciences
Ultimate Labs was founded in 2007 and is dedicated to providing environmental monitoring services and microbiological testing for the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and forensics communities. Lim had worked in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry for ten years and realised that there were not many microbiological testing options available to local industry in the San Diego area. Ultimate Labs’ customer base is now comprised of local pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and the company’s location and its customer service programme give it a strong competitive advantage. All its staff are fully-qualified in microbiology to degree level.
In September, Ultimate Labs established a partnership with Diverse Diagnostics, Inc, a testing lab that provides research, preclinical and clinical trials services to life science researchers, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Ultimate Labs is expanding into clinical testing to become a one-stop-shop for laboratory tests.
“We want to be a resource to companies seeking FDA approval,” says Lim. “Rather than utilising lab services from various contractors, companies can look to Ultimate Labs and Diverse Diagnostics, Inc to supply all the necessary testing, including sampling and pick-up services, in one physical location. This all-inclusive laboratory concept saves our customers time and money because they don’t have to drive from lab to lab. We will pick up the samples and gather results with cutting-edge automated test equipment.”
The partnership broadens the list of services Ultimate Labs offers to the life science community, which include sample testing, environmental monitoring and microbiological testing, quality system services, toxicology, pharmacology, clinical trial services, clinical manufacturing services, and the Ulti-Pak delivery and pick-up service.
New method development
“Ultimate Labs follows industry guidelines for developing test methods but we are always on the look-out for ways to develop new methods to meet customer requirements, and therefore we have established a number of collaborations on a customised basis,” says Lim. “The types of collaborations we have established are dependent on the type of customer: for manufacturing companies we have service agreements in place whereas for R&D based companies we have a more collaborative arrangement in which we exchange ideas on new test methods. Our customers are mostly locally based in San Diego but we have other West Coast US customers too.
“We are highly focused on developing rapid methods for microbiological testing, and our goal is to find the most efficient methods possible,” she says. “We are developing small and portable testing equipment for a broad range of microbial testing requirements. Our test methods are not based on any one particular technology, rather they are based on the good rapport we have with our suppliers because we essentially perform their beta testing of their systems for them. Our philosophy is to keep an open mind and not be pin-holed on any one single technology.
“We’ve been in business now for less than six months and are looking to break even by June of next year. We’re looking to expand beyond the pharma and biotech sector into areas like food science and forensics. At present we have 12 customers and expect this to double by the end of the year. We expect to have about 50 customers and revenues of $500,000 by the time we reach break-even point in June 2009,” she says.
“Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are downsizing at present and increasingly outsourcing services for contract laboratories like Ultimate Labs. They often use these services on an as-required basis, which is to our advantage because we are a locally based supplier and can support the many spin-out companies that have been formed in the area. Consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry is not an issue that affects us.
“Our primary philosophy is that we make products and supply services that ultimately help people through supporting the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, which of course is focused on helping the general community,” she concludes.
Further information
Kim Lim
Ultimate Labs
5940 Pacific Mesa Court
Suite 209
San Diego, CA 92121
USA
Tel: +1 858 677 9297
Fax: +1 858 677 0716
Email: pr@ultimatelab.com
Web: www.ultimatelab.com
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