Filtration plays a vital role in the development of therapeutic protein or monoclonal antibody (mAb) products. However, its success is largely determined by how efficiently they are filtered from the process stream. Inefficiently filtered products slow down the process, similar to what occurs during upstream issues.
Recently, developments to increase efficiency have become more downstream-centric as drug manufacturers recognize that the efficiency of upstream improvements rely heavily on downstream operations. According to these manufacturers, the nature of downstream innovation needs to involve increased filtration capacity.
Raising concentrations for higher dosage in biopharmaceuticals is also driving new filtration technologies who now seek sterilizing-grade filters that can sustain stable flow rates and work well with concentrated drug products and substances.
Reducing costs is another component as ingredients become more valuable. Treatments that involve high-concentration formulations require many challenging steps which can lead to higher processing times, yield loss, and damage to molecules. Technologies that maximize the recovery of feeds after filtration are hard to find. This increasing pressure means that avoiding downtime during process steps is becoming more important, as is responding to the trend towards more concentrated protein solutions which means higher-quality holdup volumes at provided capacities.
Finally, liquid filtration technologies should reduce manufacturing bottlenecks by balancing downstream filtration capacity with higher upstream productivity to improve yield and streamline the process. And while new mAb products and therapeutic proteins are designed much differently, how these molecules are recovered from the process stream has remained largely the same. Learn more about ZTEC™ P Series sterilizing grade, polyethersulfone membrane filter cartridges at the link.
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