GE boosts powdered cell culture media capacity in ‘mature’ markets
GE says it will increase powdered cell culture media production tenfold at its facility in Pashing, Austria, and double capacity in Utah, US.
“The increased capacity in our cell culture media facility in Pasching, Austria will help to strengthen product supply for biopharmaceutical companies in Europe, but naturally we deliver products to other geographic regions as needed,” GE Healthcare Life Sciences’ general manager of bioprocess Olivier Loeillot told us.
”The same way the capacity increase in Logan is mainly directed for our US-based customers, but we are also shipping to other countries and regions according to demand,” he added.
The firm did not disclose investment costs.
Cell culture media – available in powdered and liquid format – supports the growth of cells in biopharmaceutical production.
”During the past years the powdered cell culture media has become more popular in mature biopharmaceutical markets due to their longer shelf-life and lower transportation and storage costs, compared to liquid media,” said Loeillot.
In Europe and in the US, the current uptake of powdered media is already between 60 and 70%, he added.
GE is also expanding its stability services and digital solutions offering at its Logan, Utah-based site. The investment will enable customers to receive real-time data on their cell culture media, and ultimately better control the manufacturing processes, said GE.
Earlier this month, GE launched an updated, flexible cell processing system – the Sefia S-2000 – designed to harvest cells for treatments, including CAR T-cell therapy.
