Merck Provides Update on EU's Horizon 2020 Program to Improve Biopharmaceutical Downstream Processing

"The biopharmaceutical industry is facing pressure to reduce manufacturing costs and deliver greater efficiencies, all while being environmentally responsible," said Udit Batra, Member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science. "It is important for companies like Merck and our customers to help address industry-wide challenges and accelerate the process of getting drugs to patients in need. Through the Horizon 2020 program, consortium members are already delivering important advances for downstream processing."

Collaboration outcomes will include reduction in the size and number of downstream unit operations as well as elimination of the need for centrifugation. Alternative approaches for the capture step are expected to improve efficiency and reduce the need for expensive resin volume. Capture via precipitation is also being studied as a replacement for protein A chromatography.

A disposable continuous chromatography system is in development with novel analytical tools and sensors, which are also implemented in other parts of downstream process. Single-use disposable technology for all downstream processing operations will be evaluated and flow-through approaches for polishing steps implemented, to remove impurities in a continuous way. Selected approaches will be integrated in a connected continuous downstream single-use process.

"Next generation bioprocessing strategies will improve our industry's ability to efficiently and cost-effectively supply high quality medicines," said Uroš Urleb, Global Head Technical Development Biosimilars in the Biologics Technical Development and Manufacturing Unit at Novartis. "The consortium is delivering new approaches to the conventional manufacturing workflow and we expect the results of our efforts will help address variations in capacity needs, enable sustained drug supply and offer important environmental benefits."

The nextBioPharmDSP is part of the Horizon 2020 initiative, the largest EU-based program of its kind to date with nearly €80 billion of funding available over seven years (2014 to 2020). The program seeks to ensure Europe produces world-class science by removing barriers to innovation and collaboration between public and private sectors. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

The project is coordinated by Lek Pharmaceuticals, a Sandoz company in Slovenia. Consortium members include Sandoz GmbH (Austria), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Austria), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), National Institute of Chemistry (Slovenia) and National Systems srl (Italy). Merck participates in the consortium through its French subsidiary, Millipore S.A.S. For more information, please visit the project website at http://nextbiopharmdsp.eu/.

About Merck 
Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2015, Merck generated sales of € 12.85 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. The company holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

All Merck news releases are distributed by email at the same time they become available on the Merck website. Please go to www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.

Acknowledgement: 
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 635557.