Gnotobiotic research is becoming more prevalent throughout Europe, specifically in the United Kingdom. Facilities are either replacing or incorporating flexible film isolator housing with new Sealed Positive Pressure IVC “exclusion” systems, which complement improved operating procedures for husbandry tasks.
In the United Kingdom, Manchester University are starting to make this change and some others are looking at it as a possibility for future projects.
A TREND FOR CENTRALISATION
Many UK research institutes are seeing the benefits of grouping several animal facilities together in one or two centralized facilities. These “Super-Facilities” can contain upwards of 25,000 IVC cages. Pooling together costs and management systems allow for significant savings.
CENTRALISED EQUIPMENT SERVICE AGREEMENTS
In the same fashion research facilities are centralizing, institutes in the UK are moving toward group maintenance service contracts for their equipment as well. The goal is to provide a single offering – encompassing IVC’s, change stations, washing, etc., no matter the brand.
Managing several different contracts is tedious and time consuming, hence the move toward exploring the new solution of centralized service agreements. Choosing to have a single partner is greatly advantageous in terms of cost reductions and contract management.