Process Monitoring and Controls

Implementation of Established Conditions: Learnings from a “Sharing Science Solutions” Workshop

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The International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) guideline Q12 (1) (step 4 sign-off in November 2019) is in the process of being implemented in a number of regulatory regions. The document provides additional frameworks for pharmaceutical life-cycle management. It is intended to support globally harmonized regulatory tools such as established conditions (ECs) and product life cycle management (PLCM) documents to facilitate postapproval changes to chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC). Although a harmonized framework…

October 28, 2021

Multivariate Data-Driven Modeling for Continued Process Verification

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Continued process verification (CPV) is an integral part of process validation for the manufacture of human and animal drugs and biological products (1). It is designed to meet three primary goals: maintain a validated state of products, their processes, and related systems; enable continuous process improvements; and meet regulatory requirements for life-cycle validation. A CPV program for a biologic product entails regular collection of data related to critical process parameters (CPPs) and critical quality attributes (CQAs) and the preprocessing, analysis,…

October 28, 2021

Advanced Data-Driven Modeling for Biopharmaceutical Purification Processes

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Purification is an essential process in biopharmaceutical manufacturing that separates a therapeutic protein in its active form from impurities. A typical purification process consists of several chromatography unit operations, and each unit operation comprises multiple phases. During the operation of each step, continuous (time-series data per parameter for each batch) and batch data (one data point per parameter for each batch) are generated by in-line sensors installed in chromatography skids on the production floor and with at-line/off-line in-process samples, respectively.…

September 30, 2021

Design and Performance of a New Single-Use pH Sensor with Long Shelf Life and High Stability

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Single-use biopharmaceutical manufacturing systems require gamma-sterilizable, highly stable, accurate, and simple-to-use single-use pH sensors with a long shelf life. Herein we report the design and performance of a single-use pH sensor technology optimized for single-use bag applications such as those found in bioreactor and mixing applications. This technology is the basis of Emerson’s Rosemount 550pH Single-Use Sensor. The sensor is compatible with gamma irradiation and can be attached to a single-use bioreactor bag via industry accepted ports. With the incorporation…

August 24, 2021

Clamp-On Flow Meters for Process Monitoring

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Process monitoring entails systematic recording or measurement of an operation or process by means of technical aids. Repeated, regular execution is a central element of that activity. Statistical process control and management help to optimize and stabilize processes. They also ensure appropriate monitoring of threshold values. Ultrasound-based clamp-on flow meters are ideal measuring methods for that purpose because they enable data collection without requiring operators or equipment to intervene in a process. Noncontact flow sensors also combine high precision with…

August 24, 2021

Validation of a Next-Generation Single-Use Turbidity System

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Turbidity describes the relative clarity of a liquid as the result of suspended solids. Instruments that measure turbidity typically use a beam of light to detect particles by measuring the difference between the amount of light emitted from the light source and the amount that is received by a detector. Such measurements are affected by the size, shape, and number of particles in a sample of liquid because those solids scatter the incoming light, which provides an apparent absorbance that…

June 18, 2021

The Five Heresies of Cell Culture: Debunking Conventional Wisdom

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Cell culture and bioprocessing conventional wisdom remains a hurdle for the wider adoption of more precise tools. It has been more than 60 years since any real progress has been made towards creating a more accurate and reliable way of performing cell culture monitoring to better understand the effects of things like pH and oxygen at the pericellular level. At SBI, we’re developing optical sensing technologies that unlock the “black box” of cell culture to bring actionable insights to scientists…

June 11, 2021

Measuring Cell Density in HyPerforma S.U.B.s with ABER Futura neotf
Single-Use Sensors

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Monitoring critical process parameters (CPPs) and key performance indicators in bioreactor control systems is crucial to ensure proper cell growth and protein production. Today, most of the major biopharmaceutical companies employ capacitance measurement, in R&D and through process development to manufacturing. Owing to the increased use of single-use bioreactors and building on Aber’s experience with single-use capacitance sensors, the latest Futura neotf single-use capacitance sensors have been specifically developed for integration into Thermo Fisher Scientific bioprocess containers (BPCs) for use…

June 11, 2021

Emerging Strategies for Drug-Product Comparability and Process Validation: Part 2 — Validation, Legacy Products, and Lifecycle Management

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This two-day CASSS CMC Strategy Forum explored many technical, practical, and regulatory facets of biological drug-product (DP) analytics, process validation, and comparability. Part 1 of this report summarized the discussions on drug-product analytics and comparability in BPI’s March 2021 issue (1). Here we report on day two presentations and discussions on validation, legacy products, and lifecycle management. Session Three: Drug-Product Validation The morning session focused on principles of process validation with examples of challenges specific to drug products. New Risk-Based…

April 16, 2021

Using Prior Knowledge to Estimate Long-Term Variation

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A reasonable estimate of long-term variation for a biopharmaceutical product critical quality attribute (CQA) can be challenging to justify, especially in the early stages of a product’s lifecycle when only limited data are available. However, if the combination of product and analytical method reasonably can be matched with historical data, prior knowledge can provide an estimate of a value. This variation estimate could be used to assist in risk assessments related to continued process verification (CPV) activities, including control charting…

March 9, 2021