Dow, Sartorius and Südpack Medica create bioreactor bags for COVID-19 vaccine distribution

23 Feb 2022 --- Dow and Südpack Medica are joining forces with life science research and biopharmaceutical company Sartorius to support the global COVID-19 vaccination fight by manufacturing bioprocessing bags, which they say are essential for the production and transportation of vaccines.

The collaboration is creating sterile bioreactor bags made from multilayer films that can help achieve greater speed, quality and flexibility in the vaccine development process. 

With a capacity of up to 2,000 liters, the bags are engineered for efficient mixing, high oxygen transfer and “ideal” for mammalian cell culture processes, which demand a high cell density or are microcarrier based.

Under precisely defined conditions in bio-reactors, cells produce the agent needed to produce coronavirus vaccines.

“With our excellent film robustness, it is possible to develop, control and scale up the highly sensitive biopharma processes on a global level,” says Thomas Freis, managing director of Südpack Medica. “These multilayer films have been a fundamental part of the value chain for the production of single-use bioreactors and have therefore enabled the scalability and accelerated development of the mRNA technology.”

3D bagging for sterility 
The success of the collaboration rests on a predictable process, say the companies. “The 3D flexible bags are dedicated for sterile and ready to use solutions and designed for storage and shipping of large volume biopharmaceutical solutions.” 

Dow is helping supply needed polymers for bioreactor bags.They are designed to provide a secure single-use solution for in-process fluid handling, storage and shipping needs for all the process steps. Sartorius’ technology supports the production of current vaccines and emerging vaccine technologies. 

Pharmaceutical companies use the bioreactor bags and 3D bags Sartorius produces to cultivate vaccines, including for COVID-19. Südpack is one of the partners of Sartorius for this polymer film supply.

The high performance of Südpack’s films is also integral to supporting safe vaccine production, says the company. Notably, the technology and R&D processes and hygiene and quality standards behind Südpack films provide the flexibility to address – and speed to meet – the fast-changing requirements of the pharmaceutical industry and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic relief effort. 

The films in the bioreactors support the reproductive growth behavior of sensitive cell lines. Cell viability and density reduce the risk of batch loss or inconsistencies and achieve a high product purity and improved productivity.

COVID-19 packaging 
Early this year, thermoformed packaging specialist Charpak developed a tray for the safe storage and transportation of refrigerated pharmaceutical products, which the company says would “revolutionize” the distribution of vaccines worldwide. 

Currently, around 6.3 million vaccines are wasted annually – almost 60% of them due to “fridge-related” failures. The new vessel packs could enable safe transport for vaccination products to the world’s remotest regions, claims Charpak. 

The UK-based company worked as part of a collaboration of design specialists, assembled by the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) – an organization working to bridge the gap between academic research and industry – to create a vessel that prevents the waste of some vaccination products.

By Louis Gore-Langton