If process developers are given the right metrics, they will innovate to create more efficient and sustainable processes. That’s a key message of a talk that David Roush, PhD, CEO of Roush Biopharma Panacea, plans to deliver at the Bioprocessing Summit in Boston later this month.
One key point is that innovation and sustainability are linked. We’ve learned a lot about bioprocessing over the last century and should be leveraging today’s technologies to help achieve sustainability goals, he says. Another major thesis is that opportunities for sustainability exist in all parts of the bioprocessing ecosystem but realizing them needs a community effort. Sustainability is defined at the genesis of the idea, not in post-hoc assessment.
Why can it be hard to make bioprocessing more sustainable?
Part of the challenge is perceived complexity. How do you take an abstract concept, such as reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 5%, and translate it into the financial benefits and penalties that drive traditional business? What’s required is an end-to-end collaboration of key stakeholders, from suppliers to supply chain distributors, to innovate to address challenges.
Researchers innovate daily. If they’re given cost-of-goods targets and freedom to innovate, and sustainability impacts are measured, they will deliver them, maintains Roush. However, their goals need to be straightforward. Maybe only five parameters to improve.
Overcoming regulator resistance
If you can improve process efficiency, you can reduce the water consumption, shipping, and time at the facility. You’re hitting multiple sustainability targets simultaneously. How you weigh these targets depends on your own business. For example, you might already face limits on water use, or may need to ship chromatography resins worldwide.
If you have a fundamental understanding of the technology you’re implementing, you can make a cogent argument to health authority scientists. Manufacturers need to see sustainability as a business opportunity, not a penalty, continues Roush. If you implement a new sustainable technology with the same functions as existing technology, you have a competitive advantage.
Companies are focused on reducing their environmental footprint and, if you can develop a technology with both improved functionality and sustainability, you can seize the whole market.
Companies often ask how they can covert environmental impact considerations into innovative technologies and manufacturing processes? The “how” is the responsibility of innovators, not countries and international companies, emphasizes Roush, noting that you need a combination of critical thinking AND specific targets to drive change.
You also need great leadership. First, to identify opportunities. Suppliers of next-generation technologies, such as cell culture media, find it hard to prospectively invest in next-generation technology without customer feedback. Regulators also need to be apprised of what’s feasible and the current state of technology to set appropriate sustainability targets.
Finally, companies need to be forward-looking when developing technology to understand the competitive advantage it brings.
