November 2016 Supplement

The First Single-Use Diaphragm Valve: Automated and Controllable Systems Increase Process Reliability

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Single-use components and systems now are firmly established in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The trend toward simplified and flexible upstream and downstream plant design means that these components are becoming increasingly important — especially in biopharmaceutical production. In the past, the only available disposables were primarily tubes, fittings, and possibly filters. But the number of single-use systems has been increasing for a number of years now. It is hardly surprising that plant designers and operators now can rely on…

November 17, 2016

Design and Performance of Single-Use, Stirred-Tank Bioreactors

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Single-use components and systems have been incorporated into many bioprocesses as an alternative to cleanable, reusable systems. A wide range of publications have detailed the reasons for this trend toward a single-use approach. Justification in many cases comes from process-specific benefits such as increased manufacturing flexibility — especially for contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) — enhanced sterility assurance, elimination of cleaning, reduced capital investment, faster processing times with increased productivity, faster start-up, and other benefits (1). One critical factor in the…

November 17, 2016

Special Report on Process- and Product-Related Impurities (A CMC Strategy Forum Special Focus Series): Extractables, Leachables, Particles, and Aggregates

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The CMC Strategy Forums focus on relevant chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) issues throughout the life cycle of a therapeutic and thereby foster collaborative technical and regulatory interaction. Forum chairs share information with regulatory agencies to help them merge good scientific and regulatory practices. Outcomes of forum meetings are published in BioProcess International and on the CASSS website (www.casss.org). This process is meant to help ensure that biopharmaceutical products manufactured with advancing technologies in a regulated environment will continue to…

November 17, 2016

Continuous Cell Culture Operation at 2,000-L Scale

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In the biopharmaceutical industry, continuous manufacturing is often cited as a method for increasing the productivity of bioprocesses (1). Compared with batch processing, it has the potential to enable production of more product within a smaller facility footprint — while improving product quality, particularly for sensitive and unstable molecules. Investigation into continuous methods is taking place for both upstream and downstream operations. For the full benefit of continuous processing to be realized, an argument has been made that cell culture,…

November 17, 2016

Membrane-Based Clarification of Polysaccharide Vaccines

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Polysaccharide vaccines are essential for protection against infectious diseases, which remain an alarming cause of mortality. The first glycoconjugate vaccine for use in humans — a Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate — was licensed in the United States in 1987. This vaccine successfully reduced the incidence of invasive Hib disease in childhood and led to the further development of conjugate vaccines designed to prevent infection by other encapsulated bacteria (1). Polysaccharides are relatively complex carbohydrates made up of many…

November 17, 2016