Sartorius Stedim Biotech Partners with Nova Biomedical

Sartorius Stedim Biotech, which supplies products and services to the biopharmaceutical industry, has entered into an agreement with Nova Biomedical, a manufacturer of cell culture analyzers, to integrate their BioProfile FLEX2 into the ambr multi-parallel bioreactor systems for automated, at-line cell culture analytics.

SSB is a total solutions provider with a portfolio covering almost all steps of biopharmaceutical manufacture, and focuses on single-use technologies and value-added services. The ambr systems are designed and manufactured by TAP Biosystems, which is a part of the SSB Group and provides automated cell culture and fermentation systems for life science research, development and production. The ambr platform mimics the characteristics of classical bioreactors at the microscale by allowing automated parallel processing of single-use bioreactors, and is used for cell line development and process optimization by pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic laboratories.

Nova Biomedical develops and manufactures whole blood, point-of-care and critical care analyzers, as well as provides the biotechnology industry with instruments for cell culture monitoring. The company’s biosensor technology is incorporated in handheld meters for glucose self- and point-of-care testing and critical care whole blood analyzers for rapid measurement of over 20 analytes. Its biotechnology-specific BioProfile line has pioneered comprehensive cell culture testing, providing over 20 critical cell culture tests with over 12 unique instrument offerings for broad range of cell culture applications.

The partnership between SSB and Nova Biomedical will allow both the BioProfile FLEX2 analyzer and the parallel bioprocessing functionality of the ambr to create a unique tool which can simultaneously run, sample and analyze a massive number of cell culture conditions during high-throughput cell line, media and process development by Design of Experiments (DoE). This will allow biopharmaceutical companies to develop well-characterized cell culture processes in less time while preventing the process development bottleneck from being shifted to the analytical laboratory. The integration of ambr and the BioProfile FLEX2 will benefit users by allowing independent sampling, sample transfer, analysis and automated feedback control in each mini bioreactor.

“The combination of ambr and Nova’s BioProfile FLEX2 solution saves time by significantly increasing the amount of data that can be generated per run,” said Stefan Schlack, Senior Vice President Marketing and Product Management at SSB. “Together with our Umetrics and BioPAT MFCS software suites, this will offer a complete solution to generate and analyze the vast amounts of data required for a QbD approach to upstream bioprocess development.”

“We’re very excited about this collaboration. The combination of Nova’s expertise in automated cell culture analysis and Sartorius’ talent in delivering micro-scale smart reactors will yield tremendous benefits for the biotech industry,” said Nicholas Theodore, Senior Vice President of Global Sales for Nova Biomedical. “The integration of BioProfile FLEX2 with the ambr cell culture systems will result in accelerated commercialization of products and the ability to develop more products at lower cost, while ensuring the best quality of biotherapeutics for patients worldwide.”