MURRIETA, California, December 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- COPAN has enjoyed widespread use of its flocked swabs line, branded as FLOQSwabs, in microbiology for the collection and transportation of bacterial and viral samples.

FLOQSwabs by COPAN have been shown through numerous independent studies to collect more sample and elute the entire sample thus improving the detection and diagnosis of infectious disease agents. In spite of this success, the company has remained committed to continual innovation to optimize the sample collection, preservation and maximize the release of the target analyte into numerous assay platforms. New research at COPAN has led to an important technological breakthrough in the yield of target nucleic acid from its FLOQSwabs. In the case of Low Copy Numbers (LCN) when minute quantities of nucleic acid might be present in a sample, maximum yield of nucleic acid can make the difference between a positive or negative result.

Even though FLOQSwabs release almost the entire sample, nucleic acid has a tendency to be sticky and some residue can still attach to swab fibers. This risk is eliminated with COPAN's latest discovery in fiber treatment for flocked swabs. COPAN's high nucleic acid yield FLOQSwabs now deliver as much as 1 log more nucleic acid, equivalent to 3 PCR cycles less for detection. This demonstrable improvement is another milestone in the evolution of flocked swab technology and ensures the maximum sensitivity of assay. The recent discoveries are now the subject of a series of new patent applications by COPAN in the USA and in other countries around the world.

Worldwide, COPAN holds numerous patents for its original line of flocked swabs, FLOQSwabs.