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Sterilization Plant For
Medical Products Ready To Take Off
Maharashtra's first and Indai's second Gamma
radiation sterilization plant in the private sector, for radiation sterilization
of medical products and spices coming up at Ambernath in Thane district of
Maharashtra, will be ready for operations by the first week of November. The
plant will be dedicated to the nation on November 16, 2005. The first such unit,
Bikiran, was commissioned at Kolkata, in August 2004.
Commercial work at the plant
would begin after obtaining the final clearance from the Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board (AERB), said sources. The Rs 5-crore project is a joint venture
between A V Processors and the Department of Atomic Engergy's Board of Radiation
and Isotope Technology (BRIT).
Speaking to Pharmabiz, Rajiv
Adukia, Managing Director, A V Processors, said, "The plant is the result of MoU
signed between our company and BRIT. It's a Gamma radiation facility for the
sterilization of medical products and spices. BRIT will take care of all the
technical aspects and operations of the plant. Also, BRIT will provide Cobalt
60, the source required for the radiation sterilization. The plant is situated
at a plot of about 5000 sq. metres and the building area is about 1500 sq.
metres. The capacity of the plant is about 1000 Kilocurie and it can be used for
the processing of medium and high dose products."
"So far we have signed 14 MoUs
with different organisations in the country. Similar such plants are established
at Bangalore, Vadodara and New Delhi. Another plant Vardan will take off soon at
Haryana. This is the major step in the privatisation of the nuclear sector. The
role of BRIT here would be to supply the Cobalt 60-source to these plants. We
will help in selecting a site for the plant, commissioning the plant and
Radiological Safety Officer (RSO) trained by BRIT and BARC will take care of
safety of the plant," said BRIT chief executive J K Ghosh.
"All the other methods of
sterilization like autoclave, sterilization by ethylene dioxide etc. have chance
of contamination by the pathogens. Radiation sterilization is a very efficient
and convenient technique for achieving a high level of sterility in medical
supplies. Ionizing energy produced by gamma rays, penetrates deeply, making it
fit for products with various densities and packaging types such as pre-filled
syringes. Radiation sterilization is a simple and safe process involving just an
exposure of products to gamma radiation from a cobalt-60 source, for a
predetermined time so as to receive a prescribed dose. The process is
repeatable," explained Ghosh. "Also packaging remains intact with Gamma
processing. Since Gamma rays do not require high pressures or vacuum, seals are
not stressed. In addition, Gamma radiation eliminates the need for permeable
packaging materials," he said.
The plant will be used for the
sterilization of medical products like plastic and rubber Eye/Ear dropper
bottles, latex gloves, blood collection and donor sets, petri-dishes,
contraceptive device like Copper-T etc, absorbent cotton, wool, gauge, bandage
dressing, gauge pads, nappies, medical kits, metallic products like surgical
sutures, shunt valves, aluminium caps, containers and tubes, surgical blades,
needles, tools, implants etc.
(Ref: Chronicle Pharmabiz dated November 3,
2005) |
