Sustainable Manufacture of Biotherapeutics: Depth Filter Fabrication and Performance Evaluation Based on Sustainably Sourced Cellulose Fibres
Project ID: 2531bc1592
(You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Manufacturing The Future
Research Area(s):
Engineering
Circular Economy
UCL Lead department: Biochemical Engineering
Lead Supervisor: Gary Lye
Partner Organisation: GLOBAL LIFE SCIENCES SOLUTIONS OPERATIONS UK LTD
Stipend enhancement: £ 625
Project Summary:
Why this research is important
Biopharmaceuticals are the most important class of modern medicines. They are produced by cell culture and depth filters play a critical role in biopharmaceutical manufacture. Filters facilitate cell removal and product recovery as well as the removal of impurities helping ensure the safety of the final product. Recent studies within the UCL East Manufacturing Futures Lab have focused on the utilisation of sustainable industrial feedstocks and efficient processes for cellulose fibre recovery have been developed. Use of these fibres in filter fabrication will help reduce the environmental footprint of biopharmaceutical manufacture.
Who you will be working with
Cytiva is a major equipment and solutions provider to the global life science industry. This project combines UCL’s expertise in bioprocessing with Cytiva’s expertise in filter fabrication and is part of the UCL-Cytiva Bioprocessing Centre of Excellence (CoE). The recruited student would be integrated within the existing CoE team providing technical support, filter fabrication facilities and opportunities to explore commercialisation of project outputs.
What wou will be doing
The AIM of the project is to demonstrate the use of sustainably sourced cellulose fibres in depth filter fabrication for therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) manufacture. The OBJECTIVES are to:
- Establish and standardise a process for the recovery and preservation of cellulose fibres from a sustainable feedstock.
- Fabricate depth filter sheets from these fibres and characterise their pressure-flow characteristics in an industry-standard depth filter format.
- Evaluate filter performance for cell and impurity removal and therapeutic product recovery in biotherapeutic manufacture.
Who we are looking for
We are looking for enthusiastic biochemical/chemical engineering or biotechnology graduates with a strong interest in sustainability. They will be trained in membrane fabrication and experimental design, high resolution membrane imaging and a range of biological assays underpinning bioprocess characterisation and quality control.