ATCC Standards Development Organization Gains ANSI Accreditation

Business Wire, Oct 5, 2007

MANASSAS, Va. -- ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) announced today that it has received accreditation from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a Standards Development Organization (SDO).

As a developer of industrial standards related to biological materials, ATCC will coordinate the drafting and revision of a series of voluntary consensus standards that will address laboratory testing and research protocols involving microorganisms, cell lines and other biological products, as well as standardization of the materials themselves.

ATCC is the first biological resource organization to garner ANSI accreditation as a standards development organization.

"There are major unmet needs for standards in academia, government and industries where biological materials are used in testing and R&D," explained Dr. Raymond Cypess, President and CEO of ATCC. "ATCC is proud of its leading role in establishing consensus standards that will improve safety and productivity in industries where biomaterials are used, as well as in the wider scientific community."

"ATCC's function as a multifaceted resource for the scientific community, coupled with the recognition of many ATCC materials as reference standards, places the organization in an ideal position to spearhead development of voluntary consensus standards for biological research and testing," explained Dr. Joseph Perrone, ATCC VP for Standards and Certification.

ANSI has managed U.S. efforts in voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment activities since 1918, overseeing the creation, promulgation and use of thousands of norms and guidelines in almost every industrial sector. The Institute is the U.S. member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), as well as the International Electrotechnical Commission and a member of the International Accreditation Forum.

Accreditation by this body means that ATCC has constructed a process for generating standards that meet ANSI and other internationally recognized requirements for openness, balance and transparency among stakeholder groups, as well as due process for review and revision of the standard before it is adopted.

Since they are created under these requirements, voluntary consensus standards developed by an ANSI-accredited organization are highly valued by industry groups once they are approved by ANSI as American National Standards and adopted as common practice.

For more information on ATCC standards, click on the "Standards" button at www.atcc.org.

About ATCC

ATCC is the world's largest biological resource center and the most comprehensive source of reference cultures and reagents used by researchers in academic and industry laboratories. Since 1925, ATCC has set the standard for authentication and distribution of biological reference materials for life science research in the public and private sector. www.atcc.org.