Continuous downstream bioprocessing for intensified manufacture of biopharmaceuticals and antibodies

Continuous production delivers higher productivity and better quality than traditional batch-wise approaches. It intensifies production lowering capital cost and enables better control. Despite obvious advantages, continuous processing has not yet guided biomanufacturing to 21st Century Advanced Manufacturing status. Production relies primarily on batch-wise methods that have served the industry through its infancy. While great improvements have been achieved on the upstream side, downstream processing lacks development in continuous processing and is now the handbrake on modernisation. Nevertheless, there are hopeful advances. Research on continuous chromatographic purification for antibodies is maturing, and work has commenced on other unit operations and on process system integration. This exciting field of process intensification research is at a turning point, though considerably more research is needed. This review aims to summarize the latest developments and capabilities of continuous downstream processing applied in biopharmaceutical research and gives an overview of recent developments. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Continuous production offers higher productivity and better quality compared to traditional batch-wise approaches, but has not yet fully guided biomanufacturing industry to the 21st century advanced manufacturing status. Despite advancements in upstream processing, the lack of development in continuous processing for downstream operations remains a hindrance to modernization and process system integration. Hopeful advances in continuous chromatographic purification and other unit operations are on the horizon, signaling a turning point in process intensification research.