Bioprocess Technology Plant, FHNW School of Life Sciences

Enzymes, antibodies, gene therapies: all these molecules are based on highly complex processes that make their production extremely difficult and costly. The focus of the Bioprocess Technology Plant is to develop and optimise such processes.

Whether the goal is process development, piloting or automation, important production steps can be analysed and evaluated with great precision. Process control can be increased and operations – including upstream and downstream processing – can be simulated and redesigned where necessary.

We can help companies that want to bring a biomolecule to market, as well as research groups looking to solve specific scientific problems. Our industrial and academic collaborators can find out how a process should be run to achieve the desired yield as efficiently as possible in the targeted quality. Digitisation and detailed data analysis play a decisive role.

Cell lines and media are optimised in small-scale systems, and production is carried out in bioreactors that are operated in batch, fed-batch or continuous mode. The cultivation of microorganisms or mammalian cells can be tracked in bioreactors using numerous online probes. The produced biomolecules are consequently purified by several chromatographic and filtration steps (cell harvest clarification, TFF, UF/DF) and characterised with state-of-the-art analytical methods.

Students learn all steps and techniques of upstream and downstream processing up to the final formulation during their studies. Practical knowledge is gained during various lab courses in cultivation and purification techniques, sensor analysis as well as analytics. This knowledge can be further deepened during semester, bachelor or master theses.

Flyer - Bioprocess Technology Plant (PDF)