ABEC & RENOLIT – UPSCALING THE GLOBAL VACCINE PRODUCTION TODAY & TOMORROW
On December 31, 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, China, reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei Province. A novel coronavirus was eventually identified. The world was looking spellbound at China. Hardly anyone suspected that this marked the beginning of a pandemic that cost many human lives within the following years and changed the lives of us all. Only the rapid development of vaccines appeared to be a light at the end of the tunnel. That these vaccines actually became available to millions of people worldwide in record-breaking time, was in part thanks to a successful collaboration between ABEC and RENOLIT.
A COLLABORATION OF SUPERLATIVES
AGAINST COVID-19
In 2019, ABEC, a leading global provider of integrated solutions and services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing and RENOLIT Healthcare had already been working together for over 7 years. Three of them on the development of Custom Single Run (CSR) solutions with large scale capacities: a then new hybrid system of single-use bioreactors within a steel CSR. A few months before the outbreak, in September 2019, ABEC announced the availability of a CSR with working volumes up to 6,000L. At that time, the 6,000L volume increased ABEC’s industry-leading 4,000L volume while continuing to deliver the superior performance of single-use-system compared to stainless steel systems.
Cleanroom production line at the American RENOLIT Corporation – LA
For RENOLIT, the step from 4,000 to 6,000 liters brought the challenge to supply an extra wide version of RENOLIT INFUFLEX 9101 with 1,500 mm for an extra-large bioreactor with higher risks of scratching, puncturing, or damaging the film. Throughout the entire production and integration process under clean room conditions, the film must guarantee that the bioreactors remain in pristine condition to minimize any risk of leakage or contamination of the final product.
MAKING VACCINES ACCESSIBLE FOR MILLIONS
The timing for the launch of the new CSR Bioreactor technology could not have been better: This innovation increased production capacity for vaccines of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers significantly in a very short time – without requiring additional floor space or investing in additional infrastructure. (The design and built of complete process lines is made possible by ABEC within in 6–9 months.)
ABEC CSR® 4,000L x 6 Bioreactor Module Manufacturing · abec.com
Thus, the CSR technology made vaccines accessible and affordable for millions of people in the fight against COVID-19. Besides, the new hybrid system offered many advantages: Compared to stainless steel tanks it utilizes less water and energy for the sterilization, has a lower risk of cross contamination and enables faster changeover. In addition, these single-use bioreactors are fully-customizable and offer multi-product flexibility – important features for the manufacturing of constantly updated therapeutic antibodies against COVID-19.
STRONG PARTNERS FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE
We at RENOLIT Healthcare are very proud of this long-term and fruitful collaboration with ABEC that drives innovation in the biopharmaceutical sector to improve and save life of millions of patients today and in the future.