Ceva Biovac, a leader in animal health innovation in France, focuses on combating infectious diseases in livestock by developing custom bacterial antigen vaccines as an alternative to antibiotics. The company employs advanced pharmaceutical technologies that meet stringent French and international manufacturing standards.
These stringent standards are upheld through meticulous sample and data management systems, which are integral to ensuring the quality and safety of their vaccines. Comprehensive tracking of sample quality, storage, use, associated metadata, and experimental outcomes can ensure reproducible workflows and results.
As Director of the Bacteriology Lab and Reagents Manufacturing at Ceva Biovac, Aline Fromont and her team manage a massive collection of bacteria and viruses from agricultural settings. The collection includes 40,000 samples stored at -80℃. These strains are used to produce autogenous vaccines, and Ceva Biovac’s collection is continuously growing.
“The challenge is to be able to control all the analysis done on each strain, retrieve all the information on them, and organize the results of internal and external analysis,” shares Mrs. Fromont. “We also need to manage requests for these strains.”
For years, Mrs. Fromont managed these tasks using spreadsheets. However, accomplishing these tasks using paper records or spreadsheets can become complex and cumbersome, particularly when managing many samples.
But recently, she found a better solution: the LabVantage Laboratory Information Management System. We caught up with Mrs. Fromont at the 2024 CTEC conference to learn more about the key factors that led her to select the LabVantage LIMS, how it improved their operations, and which future operations they’ll expand the use of their laboratory information management system to.
Searching for and Selecting the Right Laboratory Information Management System
Choosing your first LIMS can be a challenging process involving extensive research, sifting through jargon, and soul-searching about your lab’s current and future needs.
The best place to start is to focus on what precisely you want a LIMS to be able to do.
“We wanted a system able to manage all of our sample data very quickly and easily,” explains Mrs. Fromont. “We wanted a system that was easy to use and user-friendly. It was also important that the LIMS be able to perform all internal and external analyses, requests of strains, management, tracking of all consumables used for each analysis, and reporting to customers.”
Transforming Laboratory Efficiency and Compliance with a LIMS
While searching for a Laboratory Information Management System to support the above laboratory tasks, Mrs. Fromont and her team found the LabVantage LIMS, which became the top choice.
Before choosing and implementing the LabVantage LIMS, Mrs. Fromont’s team used 20 separate Excel files to manage and track their laboratory operations. They also recorded lab activities and analyses on paper.
After adopting the LabVantage LIMS, that changed.
“We use three times less paper in the lab now,”Mrs. Fromont declares. “All the analyses before the LIMS were written, but now everything is captured in the LIMS.”
The LabVantage LIMS has also improved the team’s sample and data security through role-based access and adherence to GMP through traceability and SOP management.
Expanding LIMS Functionality
As laboratory needs and operations shift over time, having a laboratory information management system that can quickly and easily expand its functionality is a big advantage. This can prevent the need to find a new platform to accommodate new needs.
LabVantage LIMS makes this easy by adding designated modules focused on specific functions and tasks.
As Mrs. Fromont’s team continues to use the LabVantage LIMS, they have an eye toward the future, looking to streamline their operations further through expanded use of their laboratory information management system.
“We handle a lot of strain requests, and I think the LabVantage Portal would be very useful for the requester and us,” says Mrs. Fromont. “We also produce an autogenous vaccine on-site, which we’d like to manage using the LIMS. “
Because the production of these vaccines uses raw materials and strains from Ceva Biovac’s collection – both tracked in the LabVantage Laboratory Information Management System – it makes sense to also track vaccine production in the LIMS, creating a more homogenized and harmonized system.
To learn more about how you can flexibly expand the function of your LabVantage LIMS, contact us here.