Time and flexibility are essential in purification process development for biopharmaceuticals. Easy translation of experimental ideas into process steps and insight into the effects of changes in chromatography parameters both help speed development and contribute toward achieving quality by design (QbD) objectives. An ability to scientifically design product and process characteristics that meet specific objectives is crucial. Opportunities to eliminate manually intensive steps all support an enhanced development process. A typical monoclonal antibody (MAb) purification process includes three chromatographic purification…
Downstream Processing
Streamlining Downstream Process Development
Normal-flow filtration is used throughout downstream processes for biologics including depth, sterile, and viral filtration applications. Because of its ubiquity in large-scale biomanufacturing, using the most efficient normal-flow filter media area and type can lead to significant cost savings. But determining the most effective media type and area can be time consuming, labor intensive, and complicated because of a lack of specialized laboratory-scale equipment.
The equipment commonly used in this evaluation presents several disadvantages, including poor integration of multiple components from different sources (including pressure sensors, signal conditioning, data acquisition, balances, and pumps), continuous operator monitoring, and decreased portability of most systems due to their numerous components. This white paper describes how Genentech Inc. and PendoTECH collaborated on developing an integrated filter-sizing system that addresses these challenges and aids in efficient evaluation of filter media for manufacturing-scale processes.
From the Editor
Bonjour! I am writing this from Nice, France, on the last day of the eighth annual BPI European Conference and Exhibition organized by our London-based Informa Life Sciences colleagues. Despite the attraction of some exquisite spring weather (a welcome respite for me from the rain-drenched Pacific Northwest), sessions were well attended till the very end, and discussions were lively and productive. This event was organized into five tracks: manufacturing strategies, process optimization, economics and QbD; cell…
Improved Downstream Technologies Are Needed to Boost Single-Use Adoption
Greater adoption of single-use systems in biomanufacturing is going to require downstream device innovation. To get there, over a third of the biopharmaceutical industry is demanding that suppliers innovate and develop new single-use purification devices, according to BioPlan Associates, Inc.’s annual survey of biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity (1). Such new products would create exceptional opportunities for innovators. However, calls for new, more fully integrated single-use technologies and processes will require more adventurous innovation on the part of biomanufacturers and their suppliers.…
Disposable Downstream Processing for Clinical Manufacturing
Although disposable parts and modules have been used in the biopharmaceutical industry since the 1970s, as detailed in the “History†box, total disposable manufacturing has become a viable option only very recently. Whereas liquid storage became disposable in the 1990s, processing operations such as depth filtration, tangential-flow filtration (TFF), and chromatography have still required skids with reusable flow paths that needed cleaning and sanitization. Important recent milestones in total disposable technology included introduction of stirred bioreactors by HyClone (Thermo Scientific)…
Implementing a Single-Use Solution for Fill–Finish Manufacturing Operations
Fill–finish is the final operation in manufacture of sterile products (except for terminally sterilized products). This process requires sophisticated technology and machinery in a highly controlled, aseptic environment. Fill–finish assemblies must meet stringent requirements to ensure flow-path sterility and integrity, ensure operational safety and efficiency, and provide fill-volume accuracy to exacting requirements. Traditional fill–finish machinery comes as fixed systems comprising complex components that require assembly, cleaning and sterilization, disassembly, and material storage after filling is complete. Those operational…
A Case Study in Qualification of Single-Use Filling Manifolds for Particles and Endotoxins
Single-use technology is being examined for implementation in an increasing number of steps in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing process. Some examples of currently available disposable components include filter capsules, tubing, connectors, and biocontainers (for storage, mixing, and bioreactors), as well as devices for chromatography and multipass tangential-flow filtration (1,2). This technology was first implemented in upstream and API downstream processes such as media and buffer preparation, followed by upstream bioreactors and mixers (3). The single-use trend has most recently…
Adoption of Single-Use Sensors for BioProcess Operations
The increasing adoption of single-use technology in biopharmaceutical, vaccine, and cell therapy production is one indication that such technology has moved far beyond its novelty stage. Arguably, this is the preferred technology of newly developed processes. Benefits have been well documented in journals and conference presentations and have led the industry to form the Bio-Process Systems Alliance (BPSA). One current need is for process sensors that offer the same convenience as disposable bags, tubings, and filters being used. An ideal…
A Framework for Selecting and Working with a Normal-Flow Filtration Supplier
The biopharmaceutical market accounts for about 20% of the total market for pharmaceuticals, but its share continues to increase because of double-digit compound annual growth rates leading to projections that by 2014 eight of the top 10 best-selling drugs will be biologics (1). The industry faces many challenges and opportunities, as Jim Davies of Lonza Biologics explained to me: “Biomanufacturers have to contend with what is at present a dynamic technical and commercial landscape. Industry consolidation continues to occur as…
Are Single-Use Technologies Changing the Game?
Recently, I have heard the term game changer used to describe single-use technologies (SUTs). Whether this is hyperbole or reality remains to be seen. But it does bring baseball to my mind. After all, it’s finally spring, games began in April, and optimism reigns supreme — at least in some major-league cities. I was struck recently by an article in my home-town Washington Post by venerated columnist Thomas Boswell, who wrote in March about hope for the future of our…