Technology

Biotrend runs a state of the art facility for the development and optimization of bioprocesses.

Strain screening and the preliminary assessment of process conditions are performed in 96 square deepwell plates. Suitable oxygen transfer rates are obtained and allow parallel cultures to be performed on the same conditions as those obtained with baffled shake flasks. Biotrend is able to carry out up to 1500 cultures simultaneously! Since microplates can be used in our main analytical equipments (UV/Vis spectrophotometer and HPLC), Biotrend runs a high-througput platform suited to the screening of biocatalysts and for preliminary assessment of process conditions.

Process development and optimization is performed with our battery of fully controlled bioreactors, connected to data acquisition and control software.

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The reactors are sampled automatically by means of a Groton Biosystems ARS400 automatic sampler coupled to a refrigerated sample collector. Samples are analyzed for biomass (spectrophotometry and dry-cell weight), substrates, metabolites and products (biochemical assays and HPLC), in addition to dedicated off-gas analysis for each bioreactor. This allows the close and around-the-clock monitoring of all the parameters that reveal the process dynamics. This is crucial information that is required for fast process optimization.

Biotrend has access to facilities for scale-up studies up to 300L fermentation capacity. Trials in industrial environment, both at pilot and production scale can also be arranged for.

Further, Biotrend is currently co-investing, together with Biocant Park, in a new pilot scale facility with fermentation capacities between 2L and 1000L and flexible downstream. This open access facility will provide the perfect environment for bioprocess scale-up and validation. It will equally serve companies, project consortia needing the perform demonstration trials and R&D groups wantig to test or validate processes at pilot scale.

Biotrend’s human resources provide a mix of different professional and cultural backgrounds, together with a scientific curriculum of more than 50 refereed publications in international journals and books.

Biotrend also collaborates with highly qualified external consultants and advisors, being able to cover any point of the discovery process: from gene to product.

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