Astrea arises from the Prometic ashes; inks column deal with Thermo

Astrea Bioseparations will supply prepacked chromatography columns to Thermo Fisher. Formerly known as Prometic Bioseparations, the firm now forms part of KKR life sciences tool platform Gamma Biosciences.

Late last year, Bioprocess Insider reported the planned acquisition of Liminal BioSciences’ chromatography and bioprocessing business Prometic Bioseparations by investment firm KKR in a deal worth up to £77 million ($100 million).

Now complete, KKR has announced the firm will now be known as Astrea Bioseparations Ltd and is the first company in its portfolio of life sciences tools subsidiaries that fall under its new division Gamma Biosciences.

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Astrea offers ligand discovery and adsorbent development services, along with large-scale production of chromatography adsorbents and pre-packed chromatography columns.

It is the latter offering that is the subject of the first deal announced under the firm’s new moniker, with bioprocess vendor Thermo Fisher Scientific inking a contract for the supply of Astrea’s EvolveD columns prepacked with its proprietary CaptureSelect and POROS chromatography resins.

“Combining our resins with the EvolveD pre-packed columns enables our customers to expedite process development and maximize purification efficiency in their effort to bring novel biotherapeutics to market,” Thermo Fisher VP and general manager of Purification and Pharma Analytics Brandon Pence said.

Astrea’s CEO Steve Burton, meanwhile, said significant investment In the EvolveD platform and experience in chromatography resins and clean-room manufacturing has allowed his firm to provide a competitive pre-packed column offering with low lead times.

The columns are offered in 70-, 100- and 200-mm diameters, with bed height options of either 10 or 20cm.

Financial details of the Thermo Fisher deal have not been disclosed.