Sartorius to Fit Out NIBRT Training Center for Continuous Bioprocessing

The partnership, which sees the bioprocess vendor supplying Ireland’s National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT), was announced at Sartorius’s Process Intensification (PI) Forum in Gottingen, Germany Wednesday.

More than 1,000 scientists, engineers, and students are expected to benefit from hands-on training in intensified upstream and downstream bioprocessing using Sartorius’s continuous process technology Pionic once the doors open in December. The end-to-end platform includes rocking-motion and stirred-tank perfusion bioreactors in the upstream, fully integrated with downstream capture through to polishing, and supported by analytics and digital tools.

“We are committing not only to provide new technologies and pioneering in that area, but equally to make sure that we drive the transition and the fast and smooth adoption of new technology by upskilling,” Michael Grosse, Sartorius’ CEO, told delegates.

NIBRT, an NGO supported by the Irish Government, opened its 8,300 square meter facility in 2011 with the aim to replicate a working bioprocessing facility for workforce training purposes. Since then, the institution has trained tens of thousands, both directly at the Dublin site and through a series of global partnerships, with members of its partner program located in the US, South Korea, Australia and elsewhere.

And in April this year, the center was designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the Regional Training Centre (RTC) for Biomanufacturing for the European Region, as part of the WHO Biomanufacturing Workforce Training Initiative.

Speaking at the event in Germany, NIBRT’s CEO Darrin Morrissey said: “If you came to our facility 10 years ago, you would have found lots of stainless steel. We’ve evolved into a single-use [based] modular facility, and now we’re embracing intensified continuous manufacturing through the deployment of the fully end-to-end Pionic suite of equipment at our training center.”

He added that such technology is vital in reducing the production costs of drugs, and this is the “single biggest lever for making biologic-based medicines more affordable and more accessible, for health systems globally and obviously for patients as well.”

Despite the cost-saving benefits of intensified processes, Morrissey was clear that installing such tech alone will not deliver the shift.

“Real sustainable innovation is not just about investment in the technology,” he said. “For innovation to succeed, you must bring people on board, and you do that through a combination of intensive skills development blended with a focus on the culture of the organization, blended with exemplary change management.

“People deliver innovation. Technology is only the facilitator.”

Collaboration between Sartorius and NIBRT has been ongoing for 12 months, with the invite-only facility launch set for December 3. The first course, described as “a practical introduction to process intensification of biologics,” will begin on December 15.