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Solid Matrices for Bioprocessing

Objective



Objectives and content

Manufacturers of food products, biopharmaceuticals and immobilized enzymes have a clear need for improved solid, particulate matrices which can be used for purification and immobilization of proteins (enzymes, antigens and antibodies). Today there are no materials which fulfil all the customers' demands on productivity, inertness, stability, flow properties and price.
By removing this bottleneck it would be possible to develop large-scale industrial applications for solid matrices and to open up new market niches. Immobilized enzymes are potentially very useful as biocatalysts in food processing. Similarly, immobilized antigens and antibodies have potential for the very large scale purification of biopharmaceuticals.

The objective of this project is to develop and evaluate new solid matrices which meet industry's needs. New polymerisation, surface modification and immobilization technology will be applied in the development of new matrix prototypes and a prototype process for large scale bead production. By improving the capacity, flow properties and kinetics of the matrices and by reducing the production cost it is expected that the performance/price ratio will increase by 5-10 times. Chemical leakage is expected below 10 ppb which is required for food applications.

Enzymes will be purified by chromatography using the new matrices. The enzymes will be bound to activated matrices, and the immobilized enzymes with improved performance will be characterised. The immobilized enzymes will subsequently be used for development of new processes in the area of food processing. Immobilized antigens and antibodies will be applied to the development of new processes for purification of biopharmaceuticals. Processes which involve biocatalysts are favourable compared to traditional chemical processes since they save energy, are more specific and more environmental friendly.
The consortium comprises a manufacturer of solid matrix beads (PhBio), a center of excellence in colloid, interface and polymer science (U Bristol) and a research institute specialized in surface chemistry (YKI). These partners design prototype matrices which are evaluated and used by the other partners: an enzyme manufacturer (NNAS), a food manufacturer (NESTEC) and a pharmaceutical company (ORION).

Call for proposal

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Coordinator

Amersham Pharmacia Biotech AB
EU contribution
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Address
30,Björkgatan 30
751 82 Uppsala
Sweden

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Total cost
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Participants (5)