Respironics carbon dioxide sensors to be used in Sartorius disposable
bioreactors
22 August 2006
Goettingen, Germany. German technology group Sartorius AG (GER:STR) and
US medical device manufacturer Respironics, Inc. have signed an agreement
that provides for certain Respironics' carbon dioxide sensor technologies to
be used with Sartorius disposable bioreactors.
During the term of the agreement, and subject to certain terms and
conditions, Sartorius will have the exclusive right to sell Respironics'
Capnostat 5 mainstream carbon dioxide sensor and LoFlo Capnostat 5
sidestream carbon dioxide sensor with Sartorius's disposable bioreactor. The
technology will be used in the measurement of the amount of carbon dioxide
being generated in the fermentation/bio-reaction process in use of living
cells in the manufacturing of drugs.
Sartorius plans to integrate Respironics' proprietary sensor technology
into its disposable bioreactors in an effort to become the first company
worldwide to offer bioreactors enabling required off-gas analysis using
disposable technologies during the fermentation/bio-reaction process.
This is a critical parameter for cell culturing in the fermenter or
bioreactor to obtain active medical ingredients. Together with measurements
of the substances added to the cell lines and of the parameters in the
bioreactor, such as temperature or pH, off-gas analysis delivers overall
information on cell activity and process stability of fermentation. Until
now, this analysis had been carried out with equipment that had to be
sterilized after every sampling procedure and that additionally entailed a
high capital outlay of up to US$25,000 dollars.
Respironics continues to offer its carbon dioxide sensor and
carbon dioxide monitoring technology for use in intensive care
units, emergency medicine/transport and for respiratory care.
Reinhard Vogt, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing
of the Biotechnology Division at Sartorius said the agreement is
an example pointing the way to the future in that it shows how
an already established technology in medical applications can be
transferred to other market segments. "Particularly in the past
two years, Sartorius has built up a broad portfolio of
disposable technologies with which we anticipated the market
trends and have considerably set ourselves apart from the
competition."
Philip Nuzzo, Vice President of OEM & Monitoring, explained the benefits
of the agreement for Respironics: "Sartorius offers us the opportunity to
enter an additional market for our products which further establishes our
CO2 technology as the market leader."
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