Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB) obtained exclusive global marketing and distribution rights to Aber Instruments’ single-use sensor technology for the biopharmaceutical market. Aber will supply SSB with measuring instruments. SSB will manufacture the biomass sensors under a license, integrate these into its single-use bioreactors, and exclusively market these products in a dual-branding arrangement. New single-use sensors will be developed by both companies.
SSB has continuously expanded its process analytics portfolio over the past years in the area of single-use sensors to enable real-time, noninvasive measurement of critical process parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen content, temperature, glucose, lactate, and biomass.
“Single-use sensors make our disposable bags even more intelligent,” explained Stefan Schlack, senior vp of marketing at SSB. “They deliver real-time information about the progress of cell culture processes and help biopharmaceutical customers to understand their processes even better and further optimize them—a decisive competitive advantage.”
In-line biomass sensors enable precise and reproducible information to be obtained on the progress of a fermentation process without having to take samples and analyze these in the laboratory, continued Schlack.
“As a result, cells are not unnecessarily exposed to stress caused by manual sampling and contamination risks are eliminated. In conjunction with SSB’s existing PAT and software solutions, biomass sensors represent high-performance tools for modeling and optimizing biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing processes, as well as for further accelerating development times,” he noted.