The emerging use of hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) biodecontamination technology in the late 1990s was initially implemented as part of an alternate strategy for disinfecting rooms, areas, and whole buildings. The technology was developed with rapid cycles and was adopted by barrier isolator users allowing for rapid, effective, and validated bio-decontamination cycles inside critical zones. In the years to follow, the use of HPV technology spread throughout the development and production pipelines of small- and large-molecule biopharmaceutical products. This article will consider the current and future uses of HPV technology from the perspective of the development through manufacture of a biologically-derived product…
Category: <span>Biologics Production</span>
ExpreS2ion, established in January 2010, is located in the Hørsholm Science Park, north of Copenhagen. It was formed as a spin-out from Affitech A/S (Affitech) which holds an equity position in the company. ExpreS2ion operates as a contract research organization (CRO) offering services related to vector and cell line development, cloning, upstream development, optimization, and production of GLP material using its S2 (Drosophila Schneider 2) cell-based ExpreS2 platform. Two of the company’s founders, Drs. de Jongh and Dyring, and early employees of ExpreS2ion were colleagues for many years at Affitech and Pharmexa A/S (Pharmexa) before the two companies combined. It was during this period that they developed and optimized a S2 expression system for use in the production of therapeutic vaccines. ExpreS2ion’s proprietary protein expression platform, ExpreS2, consists of high-yielding expression vectors, a S2 cell line that grows to higher cell densities than standard S2 cells, an optimized culture media, and a highly efficient transfection reagent specifically optimized for S2 cells…
L-asparaginase, produced by Pseudomonas fluorescens, was purified by a three-phase partitioning method of t-butanol in the presence of ammonium sulphate. Enzyme recovery was enhanced by the optimization of process parameters (i.e., ammonium sulphate concentration, t-butanol ratio, temperature, and pH) using the Taguchi design of experiment (DOE) methodology. The enhanced recovery of 31.1% with 96.0% yield and purification of 10-fold was obtained…
The current global market for aptamers is approximately $99 million annually and is anticipated to increase at an astonishing compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 106.3% for the next five years resulting in an estimated value of $3.7 billion by the year 2017. Sometimes referred to as a “synthetic antibody,” an aptamer is a nucleic acid or peptide molecule that binds to a target or antigen with high affinity and specificity. Aptamers have a wide range of applications including diagnostics, therapeutics, forensics, and biodefense. To date, hundreds of aptamer sequences have been identified and can now be chemically synthesized in the lab on demand, faster and less expensively, without the traditional issues associated with producing recombinant antibodies. This article will review aptamer technology, its advantages and limitations, as well as highlight a few of its many applications in the life sciences…
The cell wall components of gram-negative bacteria, such as E. coli and Pseudomonads, are designated as endotoxins. They have a hydrophilic polysaccharide and a lipophilic lipid component and, unlike the bacteria from which they originate, are highly heat and pH-stable. Endotoxins are pyrogens (i.e., they can cause fever if they come in contact with mucous membranes or enter the bloodstream). According to the prevalent
pharmacopeias, the defined limit values for endotoxin content may not be exceeded during the manufacturing process of pharmaceuticals. In mammalian cell cultures that are used to produce biopharmaceuticals, such as immunoglobulins, the presence of endotoxins can lead to cell death. For this reason, ultrapure media (i.e., ultrapure water, with levels proven to be below the limits) must be used to manufacture biopharmaceuticals or to propagate cell lines or cell cultures. The objective of this study is to demonstrate that the ultrapure water produced by the arium pro VF system exhibits an endotoxin content that is far below the prescribed limits and that can be used for the applications mentioned above.
Induced Patent Infringement Breaks Free from Direct Infringement: The Implications for Bioprocessing
Infringement is the unauthorized copying of patented subject matter. Infringement can be either direct or indirect (e.g., induced or contributory), and the issue becomes complicated when the patented subject matter relates to methods. To illustrate, consider the fictional J.P. Jones, PhD, who has developed a burgeoning business in the bioinformatics field by dividing the practice of patented methods amongst several actors. Dr. Jones encouraged medical practitioners to augment their diagnostic resources by utilizing his for-profit laboratory to perform specific DNA analyses. The diagnostic methods collectively being followed by the clinicians and the independent laboratory were patented by another company, but in dividing performance of the method steps among the clinicians and the lab, Dr. Jones was able to ignore the patent rights by exploiting what has often been perceived as a loophole in US patent law. Under these circumstances, the patented protocols were not directly infringed. Consequently, Dr. Jones could not be held liable for inducing patent infringement. However, a September 2012 Appellate Court decision has changed things for Dr. Jones and his contract research organization (CRO.
With growing interest in process intensification in the biopharmaceutical industry, implementing cost-effective purification strategies has become increasingly important, particularly for the expensive protein A affinity capture step in monoclonal antibody production. This study compares traditional resin-based batch chromatography (rbBC), multi-column chromatography (MCC), and membrane chromatography (MC) using small-scale experiments with commercially available formats. Performance metrics including yield, elution volume, and impurity reduction were evaluated. The best-performing conditions for MC and MCC were used to project cost and productivity for mAb purification at the 1,000 L bioreactor scale. Both MC and MCC demonstrated significant advantages over rbBC. MC achieved the highest productivity (234–236 g/L/h, 19–20-fold higher than rbBC) and the lowest media costs, resulting in up to 91% reduction in cost-of-goods (CoG) per batch. MCC also showed notable improvements, with 4.6–5.1-fold higher productivity than rbBC, and up to 72% CoG savings. Due to its operational similarity to rbBC and compatibility with existing infrastructure, MC was selected for further evaluation. Optimization was performed using a 3.5 mL membrane over 50 cycles, followed by scale-up to a 58 mL membrane tested on a pilot-scale skid representative of clinical or commercial manufacturing. The process was successfully run for 55 cycles, demonstrating comparable yield, impurity reduction, and elution profiles to rbBC. These results support the feasibility of membrane chromatography as a scalable and economical alternative for protein A capture in intensified downstream processing.
In biopharmaceutical manufacturing, buffer preparation is traditionally performed manually by dissolving solid salts in water for injection (WFI) followed by offline mixing and specification testing. This method requires large buffer volumes, extensive infrastructure, and significant labor, often creating bottlenecks in production. To address these limitations and support process intensification, inline buffer preparation technologies have emerged…
