Sartorius secures key to disposable bioreactors

German company Sartorius and US-based Fluorometrix Corp., a spin-off of the University of Maryland, have concluded a licensing contract that gives Sartorius exclusive use of Fluorometrix patents in the field of disposable sensors for bioreactors. The addition of disposable sensors for detection of multiple parameters completes the Sartorius portfolio of technology for the development and construction of disposable bioreactors.

The bioreactor is at the core of every biotechnological production process, but up to now virtually all reactors on the market were reusable systems. Sartorius has been working on the development of bio-reactors as disposable systems to meet the stringent requirements of the pharmaceutical industry.

Disposable components and systems are increasingly in demand, both for improved process reliability and for the economic advantages they offer. Disposal components are available for use at all times, and make it easy to change products in a production process quickly and inexpensively. With reusable bioreactors, by contrast, complicated cleaning processes and sterilisation operations, with the concomitant qualification procedures, must be carried out before a product change.

'We have secured a strategic advantage for Sartorius in the rapidly growing market for disposables. The current technological challenge for the creation of disposable bioreactors lies in the use of disposable products for all components of the system - including measurement and control units,' said Reinhard Vogt, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Sartorius Biotechnology Division. 'The new disposable sensors complete the chain and ensure that, this year, we will be one of the first companies to introduce a completely disposable reactor.'

The new licensing contract is viewed as an important milestone on the path ultimately leading to disposable solutions for entire biotechnical production processes; Sartorius also has plans for implementing these sensors as platform technology in other new products.