Single Use

Toward Industry Standardization of Extractables Testing for Single-Use Systems: A Collective BPSA Perspective

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Here we present a consensus position of the membership of the Bio-Process Systems Alliance (BPSA), the trade organization for the single-use industry based in Washington, DC. BPSA’s membership includes 48 corporate and institutional entities, among them component suppliers, systems integrators, end users, and independent testing laboratories. Consensus within this membership is reached through an official ballot of representative voting members, as provided for in the organization’s by-laws. The position outlined below was approved by such an internal consensus-balloting process. Building…

March 10, 2015

Extractables Profiles: A Comprehensive Approach Produces Long-Term Results

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Biopharmaceutical manufacturers spend years developing and testing new drug and biologic products to ensure their efficacy, safety, and usability for patients. Such knowledge is extremely valuable, but those same principles often get overlooked in selection of packaging and delivery systems. Decisions on packaging and delivery often are made almost as an afterthought. However, issues related to components such as extractables and leachables can affect patient safety and product quality. In addition, a lack of extractables and leachables data in filings…

March 10, 2015

The New Hybrid: Single-Use Systems Enabled By Process Automation

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Much has been written in recent years about the union of single-use systems (SUS) and process automation. These two technology initiatives have been prevalent within biopharmaceutical manufacturing over the past decade and are two of the most predominant advancements in biomanufacturing. A basic survey of industry media and conference topics corroborates that premise (1). However, efforts to combine them remain in the early stages of technological fulfillment, with much work to be done in realizing their synergistic benefits. Here I…

March 10, 2015

Automation of a Single-Use Final Bulk Filtration Step: Enhancing Operational Flexibility and Facilitating Compliant, Right–First-Time Manufacturing

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Single-use technologies have been implemented in biomanufacturing facilities all over the world. Inherently more flexible than stainless steel equipment, single-use technology allows for more rapid technology transfer by minimizing the time it takes to design, purchase, and qualify new capital assets. Rapid turnover between batches is facilitated with no need for protracted clean-in-place (CIP) and steam-in-place (SIP) regimes; the risk of product cross contaminations is reduced because single-use fluid-contact surfaces are never previously exposed to a biopharmaceutical product stream. For…

March 10, 2015

Measuring Pressure at Very Low Levels with High Accuracy in Single-Use Systems: Improved Performance and Single-Use System Testing

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Measuring pressure in single-use systems (SUS) has become an integral part of both upstream and downstream bioprocess operations. Articles have been published on filtration applications (1), and integration into other SUS has been widely adopted. Additionally, information is available on low-pressure applications such as how to prevent overpressurization in single-use bioreactors (2). However, as users and applications both become more sophisticated, improved performance is sought for low-pressure applications (<1 psi) such as in single-use bioreactors. The reasons are two-fold: First,…

March 10, 2015

Implementing Flexible, Scalable, and Cost-Efficient Bioprocess Platforms: A Proven Project Management Approach

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Although significant scientific progress has been made in the biotechnology industry, it has lagged behind other sectors — such as aviation and automotive — in developing, scaling up, and industrializing products coming out of R&D. The goal is to implement robust and reliable manufacturing processes for good manufacturing practice (GMP) market supply cost-effectively. But manufacturing methods for biologics have remained unchanged for decades, with large-scale, capital-intensive stainless steel facilities taking three to five years to build and remaining both energy…

March 10, 2015

The Single-Use Watering Hole: Where Innovation Needs Harmonization, Collaboration, and Standardization

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Within the past few years, the single-use technology (SUT) arena of the biopharmaceutical industry has exploded in growth. Leading organizations have predictably and understandably stampeded to the “watering hole” of single-use to drink up the advantages that disposable components offer over traditional multiuse parts and technologies. The initial value and risk-reduction results are being realized — but not without the emergence of other trade-offs. End users continue to call for standardization in emerging areas of the industry while also recognizing…

January 13, 2015

Exploring Options for Dual Sourcing of Single-Use Components

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As the bioprocess industry progressively adopts single-use technologies for large-scale manufacturing (1, 2), biomanufacturers’ increased reliance on integrators for critical production equipment continues to raise concerns about supply chain security. The need to mitigate risks associated with the supply of single-use components (e.g., bioreactors, aseptic connectors, tubing, filters) has led to growing interest in the dual sourcing of those materials. To that end, integrators and end users alike are exploring the definition of functionally equivalent products, how functional equivalency can…

December 11, 2014

Sterilization Effects on Elastomer Characteristics and Functionality in Parenteral Delivery Systems

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To drive efficiencies in producing parenteral drug products, manufacturers are using containers and closure components that are received sterile and ready to be introduced into filling lines. The effects of sterilization on the properties of ready-to-use (RU) components must be assessed to ensure proper processing techniques and suitability over the components’ intended shelf lives. Sterile-drug manufacturers must determine the best sterilization method for components based on their respective drug products and processes. Critical areas of risk include potential changes related…

November 10, 2014

Trends in Setting Single-Use Technology Standards

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The biopharmaceutical industry now incorporates single-use (SU) technology and systems in most production processes based on cell culture (1, 2). Implementation of such technologies has led to the availability of prepackaged and sterilized systems complete and ready for use with preinstalled mixers and monitoring probes. From upstream process- material preparation through final-product formulation, biopharmaceutical sponsors are increasingly presented with numerous SU solutions that support all major production platforms (3–5). The number of SU materials and suppliers in biopharmaceutical manufacturing has…

October 16, 2014