BioProcess International: Biopharmaceuticals On Demand

The author from today's excerpt is Niels Haxthausen is Vice President of Sales and Marketing, NNE Pharmaplan

By 2016, five of the top 10 biopharmaceuticals are expected to be monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Follow-on (biosimilar) versions of those blockbusters will most likely become available in later years due to patent expiry and the introduction of legislation for biosimilars around the world. Personalized therapies will drive the fractionation of the biopharmaceutical market, trending biomanufacturing toward smaller batch sizes and campaign-based production schemes.

A growing need for flexible, multipurpose, and cost-effective manufacturing will significantly affect the design of production facilities in the future. Demographic and market forces place China in a position to lead the way in this transformation of biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

“Compared with other biopharmaceutical products, MAbs are large proteins that require relatively high doses — and therefore traditionally necessitate high-volume manufacturing facilities,” explains Niels Guldager (senior technology partner in biopharmaceuticals for NNE Pharmaplan, a facility engineering and consulting company focused on pharmaceuticals and biotechnology). “Many biopharmaceutical facilities are still designed as traditional stainless steel facilities with fixed piping and tank layout and large bioreactor volumes. But such facilities require significant financial investment with total installation costs in the range of US$100–300 million.”

You can view the full article here. BPI will be joining us February 10-12 for IBC's 2nd Annual Flexible Facilities conference taking place this February. To learn more, view our agenda. Register with code FLEX14BLOG and save 20% off of the standard rate.We hope to see you February 24-25 in Berkley, CA!

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