Strategic Alliance for Better Bioproduct Quality

Since summer 2014 the strategic alliance of 13 partners from the German biotech sector work together to create a new system for real-time quality checks in bioreactors. DOTR together with four other sensor technology companies will provide its engineering know-how to implement sensors for online monitoring.

Though microorganisms and cells can be kept at ideal conditions for bioproduction in large-scale bioreactors, details about what is actually going on during the process remain mostly unkown. Information about reliable product production can often only be aquired in later stages of the process sometimes resulting in the loss of whole batches.

In order to improve manufacturing processes the strategic alliance 'Knowledge-based process intelligence', funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, aims to create a new sensor- and software platform that enables continuous monitoring of production processes and with it control the quality of the produced materials. The new sensor systems developed by DOTR, BlueSens, TRACE Analytics, Centec and Partec will be combined with state-of-the-art data analysis methods to ensure reliable production of high quality bioproducts.

The whole project focusses on two model processes, which will be stablished by the academic partners in the alliance: While at the Leibniz University Hanover a hamster cell culture for production of biopharmaceuticals is established, researchers at the Technical University Munich will study a model process with the yeast Pichia pastoris. 

The new sensor-and software platform will then be tested on other processes by alliance partners, like e. g. in the brewing industries by Bitburger, or for food biotechnology by Clariant. With combined efforts the strategic alliance will be working towards more efficient and sustainable bioproduction.

The main alliance partners:

Sartorius Lab Instruments GmbH & Co. KG (coordination)
Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH
BlueSens gas sensor GmbH
DOTR
TRACE Analytics GmvH
Centec GmbH
Partec GmbH
Siemens AG
Bayer Technology Services GmbH
Bitburger Braugruppe GmbH
Clariant Produkte GmbH

The academic partners:
Leibniz Universit?t Hannover
Technische Universit?t München