Press Release: NIBRT announce a second phase of collaboration with JM Canty International
NIBRT announce a second phase of collaboration with JM Canty International to apply advanced optical systems for monitoring and control of mammalian cell bioprocesses
Dublin, Ireland, 21st September 2022: The new research collaboration programme will be conducted within the Cell Technology Group at the state-of-the-art facilities at NIBRT under the guidance of Prof. Michael Butler with Drs Laura Breen and James Flynn as post-doctoral scientists.
The collaboration is supported by Enterprise Ireland over the next 2 years and involves the application of two imaging systems to mammalian cell bioprocesses. The PharmaFlowTM system is capable of analysing the morphological changes associated with the metabolic state of the cells as they progress through the bioprocess. This system allows on-line detailed monitoring of cells during biopharmaceutical production that match the alternative off-line measurements in terms of total cell density, viable cell density and overall culture viability.
The BioCamTM system is capable of automated monitoring the generation of foam in the bioreactor. In industrial bioprocessing the generation of foam and resultant risk of filter blockages limit the maximum volume of the culture, and thus restrict the product output per batch. Our research will investigate the use of antifoaming agents that can be administered automatically through a vision based, integrated feedback system that monitors the foam level, maximising throughput by running cultures that use the full vessel volume available.
Tod Canty (CEO of Canty International) commented on the collaboration with NIBRT:
“Our company is very proud of the accomplishments of the phase 1 of the project as we exceeded our goal by showing the Dynamic imaging method provides an improvement in accuracy in Total Cell count and Cell Viability over staining methods. We are excited to begin phase 2 with Enterprise Irelands continued support to quantify the effects of cell agglomerates and effect of antifoam on the cell production.”
In response to the collaboration Prof Michael Butler, Principal Investigator in the Cell Technology Group at NIBRT commented:
”We are delighted at NIBRT to receive funding from Enterprise Ireland in collaboration with Canty International to enable methods that will enhance the monitoring and control of mammalian cell bioprocesses for the production of important therapeutics such as monoclonal antibodies. The optical systems developed at Canty will be applied to our bioprocesses to enable automated process control and minimise the need for manual sampling”.
About NIBRT
The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) is a global centre of excellence for training and research in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. NIBRT is located in a world class facility in Dublin, Ireland. This facility is purpose built to closely replicate a modern bioprocessing plant with state-of-the-art equipment and enables NIBRT to offer the highest quality training and research solutions. NIBRT’s mission is to support the growth and development of all aspects of the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry.
For more information please contact:
Emer Norton
Marketing and Communications Manager
National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training
