Basic HTML Version
A combination with a promising future:
Bioreactors and automation technology with
valve terminals CPX/MPA from Festo in the
control cabinet supplied ready to install (above).
A control cabinet as a complete solution:
The core
of the automation process at sensor actuator level
is the valve terminal CPX/MPA (below).
“For us standardisation only has advantages,”
emphasises Dr. Sven Kelly and Gabriele Wulf,
responsible for installing the bioreactors and
buffer equipment.
M
erck Serono, the
pharmaceutical arm of Merck
KGaA, is investing 350 million
euros in its new plant and
creating 200 new jobs for biologists,
engineers, technicians and laboratory
staff. Drugs based on complex molecules
that cannot be synthesised chemically
are created in a biotechnological process
on four production lines with a bioreactor
capacity of 140,000 litres. This includes
the development of the cell bank, the
production of proteins in the bioreactors
and filtration and purification for the
purest protein concentrations.
Uninterrupted and fully automatic
“Without reliable automation technology
the operation of bioreactors with a
capacity of up to 15,000 litres would
be inconceivable,” says Gabriele Wulf,
responsible for installing the buffer
plant, Merck Serono called in experts
in pharmaceutical plant construction
and automation technology. “There are
practically no plant manufacturers in
Europe that were not involved in the
building of our new factory,” reveals
Dr. Sven Kelly, responsible for building
the bioreactor facility.
“Of course this meant that the
coordination task was huge,” Kelly
adds. The standardisation of control
cabinets was very helpful. “For Festo
it was obviously not a problem to advise
the equipment suppliers from every part
of Europe on our behalf and to supply
us with the right control,”Kelly says.
Ready-to-install control cabinets
Festo supplied 200 ready to install
stainless steel control cabinets for the
approximately 80 preparation vessels and
equipment in the new biotech factory.
It is vital to monitor and constantly
and carefully check the environmental
conditions in the bioreactor, such as the
oxygen supply, the temperature, the pH
value and the stirring speed. This is the
only way that cells can reproduce in the
best possible way.
Anyone who wants to get ahead in
world markets has to comply with
statutory regulations such as those of
the European EMA, Swissmedic and
the American FDA. To achieve this, the
validation of all processes is absolutely
essential. Thanks to automation the
whole manufacturing process can be
monitored and documented fully
automatically and paper free.
Plant manufacturers from all over Europe
In order to build its future orientated