The British manufacturer of doping collection sample kits was among the companies to receive the Red Dot Award for product design.

Versapak said in a statement that its team was "immeasurably proud to have won this award" for its A/B urine sample kit.

The announcement comes as Versapak continues its further involvement in the anti-doping sample kit field, currently monopolised by Swiss rival Berlinger.

A gap in the market appeared to have opened in March last year when Berlinger announced it was pulling out of the business in the "medium term" after further problems were uncovered with its bottles following customer feedback which showed they cracked when frozen.

The previous January, the World Anti-Doping Agency had launched an investigation following claims the bottles were not tamper-proof and could be opened.

In a documentary for television station ARD, German journalist Hajo Seppelt said that they had been able to open sealed containers "without trace".

But the decision to withdraw from the process was reversed by Berlinger in January as the company announced it would continue to manufacture and supply the containers used in sample collection.

The company claimed in a statement that it had received "strong global demand" for its BEREG-KIT anti-doping blood and urine bottles.

Last year, Versapak said it had been inundated with orders for its new urine transport kit but no other companies have emerged, leaving Berlinger with almost total control of the market.

Versapak insists its bottles are tamper-proof, declaring in a statement that "once closed, the security canister cannot be opened without showing visible evidence of tampering".