In the world of biopharma and cell culture, a primary goal is to increase productivity and product yield. Achieving this leads to lower costs, greater efficiency, and a faster time to market.

We understand the challenges of optimising bioprocesses. That's why we champion innovative tools like capacitance technology, which provides a reliable, online, real-time method for measuring viable cell density. This provides invaluable insight into cell health and helps you make smarter decisions.

Increasing Productivity in Fed-Batch Applications

Capacitance technology has been a game-changer for fed-batch applications. In one study by Biogen, a capacitance-based feeding strategy was found to be more responsive to actual cell culture performance. Instead of feeding every 24 hours based on manual, offline cell counts, they could feed every 4 hours based on real-time data. This approach prevented nutrient depletion and reduced the risk of process failure, leading to a significant 21% increase in product titre.

A similar study at the National Research Council Canada, compared capacitance-based feeding with standard bolus feeding. The capacitance approach resulted in an impressive 62.5% increase in protein titre, demonstrating its power to drive substantial gains in productivity.

Boosting Microbial Processes

Capacitance also shines in challenging microbial processes where traditional measurement methods, like optical density, are unreliable due to complex media. Corteva, for example, used Aber's capacitance technology to troubleshoot and optimise a microbial fermentation process. They were able to identify a growth deficiency and, after re-optimising the feed timing and rate, achieved a 15% gain in product titre.

Enhancing Viral Vector Production

The benefits of capacitance extend to viral vector and vaccine production. Studies have shown a close link between viral titre and harvest time, which can be identified using capacitance measurements. One group found that using this method to control the harvest point increased the maximum virus concentration by more than three orders of magnitude, resulting in a 40-fold improvement in productivity.

The Financial Impact

The financial benefits of even a small increase in productivity can be significant. For a single 1,000L bioreactor, a 1% increase in productivity facilitated by a PAT tool like capacitance could generate an additional $300,000 per run. Over a decade, with 20 runs per year, that could amount to an extra $60 million in revenue, without any additional bioreactor footprint.

The Real-World Impact

These studies underscore a simple truth: real-time insights into your bioprocess can lead to massive improvements. Using capacitance as a PAT tool allows you to make data-driven decisions that increase productivity, reduce waste, and ultimately, get your product to market faster.

We are proud to be the exclusive UK distributor of Aber Instruments, the pioneers of capacitance technology. For over 30 years, they have been at the forefront of this field, and we are here to help you integrate their technology into your workflow.

This article referenced data from the Aber Instruments report on 'Improvement in productivity using capacitance as a PAT tool in bioprocesses'. Download the full Report from Aber Instruments here.

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