Plasma Sterilization of Pharmaceutical Products: From Basics to Production

For the first time, a commercial low pressure plasma sterilization system integrated in a pharmaceutical filling line is presented. The route from a laboratory plasma reactor to an industry scale plasma sterilization reactor is shown. Absolutely calibrated measurements (e.g. OES and Langmuir probe) yield to a knowledge transfer from an experimental set-up to an industrial reactor. Spore count reduction of 4 log in 10?s of Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus subtilis spores prove the applicability of an industrial grade plasma sterilization reactor for transfer isolators typically used in pharmaceutical filling and packaging lines.