Thermo Fisher and 3M team on chromatography tech

Leveraging Thermo Fisher’s single-use bioreactors systems with 3M’s purification platform aims to improve harvesting and clarification of monoclonal antibodies, the firms say.

The collaboration – financials of which have not been divulged – allows Thermo Fisher to serve as an authorized reseller of 3M’s single-stage purification technology Harvest RC Chromatographic Clarifier with its own HyPerforma single-use bioreactor systems up to the 5,000 L scale.

3M’s tech is used to separate recombinant proteins, in particular monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and according to the firm it is the first to use chromatography in the harvest and clarification step of the biopharmaceutical manufacturing process to purify cell culture more efficiently.

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“This is especially important as more manufacturers move to high cell density cultures, where traditional technologies take more time and multiple steps to separate out desired proteins,” a spokesperson told us.

“3M Harvest RC technology condenses multiple steps of the traditional harvest clarification process into a single stage solution that can also consistently provide >95% mAb product recovery for high cell density cultures. This speeds up and increases availability of therapeutic recombinant proteins for clinical development.”

3M manufactures its Harvest RC Chromatographic Clarifier in the US, and to service this deal and to “stay ahead of demand,” the firm is looking to expand, adding production sites in other geographic areas as needed.

“Combining our highest-capacity bioreactor in the Thermo Scientific HyPerforma DynaDrive S.U.B. [single-use bioreactor] portfolio with the 3M Harvest RC Chromatographic Clarifier provides a best-in-class solution to our global biopharma customers,” said Daniella Cramp, president of bioproduction at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Integration of these technologies helps ensure efficient development of life-saving therapeutics for patients who need them.”