3M aims at double-digit growth in $5.5bn biopharma filtration market

20-Dec-2017 - Last updated on 19-Dec-2017 at 15:49 GMT

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The full integration of filtration tech company Membrana is driving double-digit growth rate for 3M’s biopharma purification business, the firm says.

In 2015, multinational conglomerate 3M acquired Membrana GmbH, the separations tech and media business of Polypore International Inc for $1bn (€850m) adding a range of membrane technologies for filtration across a number of industries.

And during a 2018 outlook call last week, 3M said it had integrated the firm with its own filtration tech platforms to grow its presence in the biopharma separations space; a sector it estimates to be worth $5.5bn.

“We’re leveraging the acquisition of Membrana to help accelerate our innovation in high-performing filtration, opening up the opportunity to penetrate the fast-growing biopharma processing market segment,” chief operating officer Mike Roman said.

Hak Cheol Shin, 3M’s EVP and vice chair gave investors further details of how the firm was applying Membrana’s membrane technologies with its own in-house developed filtration product lines to infiltrate the “large and fast-growing” bioprocessing market.

“As a result, we have unlocked many new opportunities in biopharma purification process by providing very differentiated solutions that fundamentally changes basis of competition in biopharma manufacturing processes,” he said.

“Overall, this is $5.5bn market and growing with a double-digit growth rate.”