Helmer Scientific's GX Refrigerators and Freezers Certified to New NSF/ANSI Vaccine Storage Safety Standard

NOBLESVILLE, Ind., Jan. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Helmer Scientific, a leading manufacturer of cold storage products and processing equipment, has announced the certification of their complete line of GX Solutions refrigerators and freezers to the new NSF/ANSI 456 standard for the safe storage of vaccines. Following the approval of the new standard in May and published June 14 by NSF, Helmer's line of vaccine storage units has been independently tested and certified to meet recommended temperature performance attributes that maintain vaccine safety.

The NSF Joint Committee was created in 2015 to address the need for clearly defined vaccine storage standards. This committee comprises a diverse group of professionals representing stakeholders in public health/regulatory including the CDC, end-user healthcare providers, vaccine manufacturers, and equipment suppliers. The committee was charged with creating a new standard that ensures temperature performance and vaccine safety based on real-world use of vaccine storage systems in clinics, hospitals, and other healthcare settings. To ensure vaccines are stored safely, the new standard defines performance criteria related to maintaining temperatures during various door-open scenarios and vaccine load conditions routinely observed in clinical settings. Performance criteria for both vaccine refrigerators and freezers have been included in this new standard.

GX Solutions from Helmer Scientific have been designed to meet the new NSF/ANSI 456 Vaccine Storage Performance Standard. Powered by OptiCool™ technology, GX Solutions are the first professional medical-grade refrigerators and freezers that are optimized for critical healthcare applications through temperature performance, noise reduction, and decreased energy use, while also using low Global Warming Potential (GWP) technology to support environmental sustainability. These units achieve tight temperature uniformity throughout all storage locations within the unit to help ensure that vaccines are stored within the required temperature ranges. In addition, GX Solutions are designed to recover quickly after frequent or prolonged door openings that are common in busy healthcare settings. GX Solutions also maintain temperature stability using variable-speed compressor technology to limit overall temperature deviations, safeguarding sensitive clinical and scientific products.

"The new NSF/ANSI 456 Vaccine Storage standard will help enhance the safety of immunizations and have a positive impact on public health," says Dennis Smith, Group Chair of the Task Group on Use for the NSF Testing Committee and VP of R&D at Helmer Scientific.

"Current guidelines recommend the use of purpose-built and pharmaceutical-grade storage units to safeguard vaccines due to the risks of temperature excursions, but they do not adequately address temperature performance. This new vaccine standard is closing a significant gap by providing performance criteria for vaccine storage units. The committee has tested a variety of purpose-built units that are used for vaccine storage and have proven that some units in clinical use do not meet minimum performance thresholds to ensure safe and effective storage."

Helmer Scientific GX Solutions are available in upright and undercounter pharmacy/vaccine, blood bank, and laboratory refrigerator models, as well as laboratory and plasma upright and undercounter freezer models. Units certified to the new NSF/ANSI 456 Vaccine Storage Standard are available in pharmacy/vaccine and laboratory refrigerator and freezer models. NSF/ANSI 456 certified units will begin shipping in January 2022. For more information about GX Solutions and Helmer Scientific products certified to the new NSF/ANSI Vaccine Storage standard please visit http://www.helmerinc.com/nsf-ansi-456.

Media Contact

Donna Holpuch, Helmer Scientific, 1 3177739073, [email protected]

Ben Greenfield, Helmer Scientific, 3177739073, [email protected]

SOURCE Helmer Scientific