What We Do
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Afc has a patented and proprietary contact-free, manufacturing process for joining fluorocarbon plastic films together to make flouroplastic bags, creating unique blood component containers as well as other fluoroplastic items for many branches of research.
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Our unique technique makes it possible to develop an inert and very durable type of container which permits high quality closed system cell culture and transfer of blood components.
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This promising therapeutic technique is being advanced by the designs of our closed system containers for stem cell and immune cell cancer therapy.
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The manufacturing process for joining the FEP films of Afc containers are completed in a Class 100,000 clean room in compliance with cGMP. Each container is individually pressure tested and visually inspected to assure the highest possible quality.
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Afc's patented laser manufacturing system is capable of making containers of many different sizes and shapes. The process produces containers with exceptional strength and durability which can withstand temperatures above +200°C, and below -196°C.
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Afc’s transparent containers have found applications from outer space to cryopreservation vaults.
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Afc is completely unique - we specialize in solving difficult container problems (literally) with the push of a button.
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Afc also manufactures and markets accessories for containers, including bag sealers, tubing sets, connectors, and cryopreservation materials.
Products
Afc's primary products are Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP) plastic bags for cell culture and cryopreservation. The company manufactures and sells three Trademarked product lines:
VueLife® Culture Bags;
KryoSure® cryopreservation bags, and
KryoVue® cryopreservation overwrap pouches.
Within those lines are many variations, one major variation would be FEP bags that have been treated to enhance adherence of cells and proteins. Then this adherence of biological materials may be reversed without the use of chemicals, proteins, or any impure foreign substance, both in the capture and release phase. These containers are designated as "AC" (adherent cell) bags.
Afc manufactures custom products for national and international corporations and research institutions and individuals who have a vision for utilizing the unique advantages of FEP containers. It should be noted that the material costs are at a premium, and not to be considered as low cost plastic bags. These bags (containers) are better thought of as inert bioreactors.
Features
FEP is inert, transparent, tough, and flexible at +200°C and -200°C, therefore, Afc products are used in aerospace, biotechnology, chemical manufacturing, forensics, medical products, cryopreservation, tissue banking, and other applications. The best material found for cryopreservation is FEP. It stays flexible in liquid nitrogen, therefore eliminating the fear of breakage like other materials that become brittle, crack, and break when exposed to stress below their glass transition temperature. No other material is known to be a Class Vl medical product that can stay flexible in liquid nitrogen and is designed for cryo-storage of blood components.
The bags are permeable to oxygen and carbon dioxide but impermeable to water; they remain flexible in liquid nitrogen, and have no known solvents. They contain no extractable materials compliant with USP <661>, and they do not stimulate any cellular or biologic activity. FEP transmits ultraviolet and infrared light and does not dissolve in DMSO or DMF, or any other solvent. Cells or other biologics do not bind to the bags.
Markets
Afc products are used to contain organs, sub-cellular components, stem cells, and cord blood cells while undergoing culture expansion and cryopreservation, transfection, centrifugation, irradiation, DNA recovery, spectral analysis, and transportation. The company manufactures bags for medical experiments and containment of fluids in the Space Shuttle and International Space Station.
Credentials
Afc maintains NASA contract manufacturing certifications, FDA registration, Device Master Files, 510(k) approvals, and manufactures under 21CFR regulations for GMP.
