The UV222 Booth: Revisiting an Important Milestone in Applying Far-UVC in Aseptic Manufacturing

At UV Medico, innovation is often driven by close collaboration with customers and a deep understanding of real operational challenges. While the UV222 Booth is not a new product, it represents an important milestone in the history of UV Medico — marking one of our first major successful collaborations with the pharmaceutical industry and helping establish the foundation for several of the cleanroom solutions we develop today.

Because of that, it is worth revisiting the story behind the UV222 Booth and the challenge it was designed to solve.

Addressing a Critical Cleanroom Challenge

The development of the UV222 Booth began in 2022 after we became aware of a specific and persistent issue within pharmaceutical cleanroom operations: microbial contamination introduced by cleanroom personnel.

Even when operators follow strict gowning procedures, personnel remain one of the largest potential contamination sources in controlled environments. In high-grade cleanroom areas, microbial contamination can lead to serious operational consequences, including halted production, costly downtime, investigations, and in some cases the need to discard entire product batches.

Through discussions and close collaboration with a key player in the pharmaceutical industry, we worked to better understand the operational requirements and contamination-control challenges faced in daily cleanroom workflows. Following several development iterations and ongoing dialogue, the concept for the UV222 Booth was established.

Efficient Decontamination Before Cleanroom Entry

The UV222 Booth was developed to provide efficient decontamination of gowned personnel before entering higher-grade cleanroom areas.

The system integrates several core technologies and user-focused design features, including:

• Filtered 222 nm Far-UVC light sources
• Touchless interface operation
• Fast decontamination cycle completed in approximately 20 seconds

Together, these elements allow operators to complete an additional decontamination step without disrupting cleanroom workflows or introducing unnecessary operational complexity.

The use of filtered 222 nm Far-UVC technology is particularly important, as it enables highly effective microbial reduction while supporting safe operation within controlled environments.

Supporting Annex 1 Compliance

With the revised EU GMP Annex 1 for the manufacture of sterile medicinal products having come into effect in August 2023, pharmaceutical manufacturers have faced increasing requirements related to contamination control and cleanroom risk reduction.

The revised Annex 1 places increased emphasis on implementing additional contamination-control measures based on scientific justification and risk assessment as part of a facility-wide Contamination Control Strategy (CCS).

Personnel remain one of the most significant potential contamination sources in cleanroom environments, even when strict gowning procedures are followed. As a result, the industry has increasingly focused on implementing additional contamination-control measures to strengthen cleanroom operations and reduce microbial risks before operators enter critical areas.

The UV222 Booth was developed to support these efforts by providing efficient decontamination of gowned personnel before entry into higher-grade cleanroom areas.

By combining filtered 222 nm Far-UVC technology, touchless operation, and rapid decontamination cycles, the UV222 Booth supports pharmaceutical manufacturers in strengthening contamination-control procedures while maintaining efficient cleanroom workflows.

Built for Real Cleanroom Environments

Since its introduction, the UV222 Booth has been installed at several pharmaceutical and cleanroom sites. One important lesson learned through these implementations is that cleanroom facilities rarely have identical layouts, workflows, or space requirements.

As a result, UV Medico works closely with customers to adapt and customize booth configurations to fit site-specific operational needs and facility constraints.

This ability to combine standardized technology with customized implementation has become an important part of how UV Medico approaches cleanroom decontamination solutions today.

An Important Step Forward

Looking back, the UV222 Booth represents more than a product launch. It marked an important step in UV Medico’s journey into pharmaceutical cleanroom applications and demonstrated how close industry collaboration can lead to practical, innovative solutions for decontamination.

Today, the experience and knowledge gained through the development of the UV222 Booth continue to influence the next generation of UV Medico cleanroom technologies.

If you would like to learn more about the technology behind the UV222 Booth, you can read our deep dive story here.

If you would like to discuss how the UV222 Booth or other UV Medico solutions can support microbial decontamination at your facility, please do not hesitate to contact our team.