Much attention has been given to ion exchange (IEX) media as a means to improve productivity as a result of increasing demand for higher efficiency on the downstream process. Until recently, strain optimisation for high productivity and upstream purification were the bottlenecks for most bio-processes. However, with the progress made in recent years, titers in fermentation processes have increased significantly. Obviously, this increased volumetric productivity will help reducing the cost of goods, but it also has an impact on the downstream processing. This means that improved downstream processing media are required to handle the increased product load in the same timeframe.

YMC has recently developed several polymer-based IEX media, known as YMC-BioPro Q and S (with quaternary ammonium [QA] and sulfobutyl [SB] functional groups, respectively). YMC-BioPro IEX media are based on the same porous hydrophilic polymer beads with 30 or 75 µm diameters, modified with the respective surface ligands. This new combination of matrix and surface ligand provides higher binding capacity and higher recovery for bio-molecules compared to conventional IEX media. The spherical beads, with optimal surface modification, provide high dynamic binding capacities (DBC) even at high flow rates up to 1000 cm/h.