Dancing In The Bioprocessing Ballroom: Voices Of Experience

By Thomas Page, Ph.D., Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, LLC and Parrish Galliher, Cytiva

Single-use technology is well-established, and has made its way into commercial licensed facilities, but there is more innovation in this field which will further enhance its versatility into new markets and technologies. The closed-system ballroom manufacturing approach will enable biomanufacturers to take full advantage of the flexibility offered by single-use systems, while driving out risk and is particularly suitable for applications that require multiple or rapid change-overs, and therapies with small scale production.  

Picture a large space with elegant couples waltzing around under crystal chandeliers to the sounds of a live ensemble. Now replace the chandeliers with standard industrial lighting, the musicians with arrays of bioprocessing equipment, and the dancers with gowned personnel, quietly monitoring and managing the production in an expansive open environment. Voila—ballroom bioprocessing!

In this article Thomas Page, PhD, VP Engineering and Asset Development, Fujufilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, LLC and Parrish Galliher, CTO–Upstream Bioprocessing, Cytiva, reflect on lessons learned from implementing the ballroom concept for biomanufacturing, share some practical considerations, and speculate about future moves.