Preface

Single-use systems, often referred to as “disposables“, are indispensable in the development and commercial production of biopharmaceuticals such as antibodies and vaccines today. This mainly applies to upstream processing for which a huge variety of equipment (such as storage bags, filters, mixers, bioreactors, connectors, pumps etc.) from several suppliers is available.  But also for downstream processing, filling and formulation users can rely on appropriate single-use process platforms. Reusable systems are increasingly being replaced by their single-use counterparts in running hybrid production facilities. Furthermore, market forecasts assume that the number of complete single-use production facilities for mammalian cell-based antibodies and biosimilars will increase worldwide in the future.

The mini encyclopedia “Single-Use Technology from A to Z” explains important and often-used technical terms from the application area of single-use systems. It is directed at students of biotechnology (Masters level) and related disciplines (e.g. pharmaceutical technology, pharmacy, medicinal biotechnology, biotechnological engineering and facility design), but also towards first-time users from the industry.

At this point, we would like to thank biotechnet Switzerland and DECHEMA for their support in implementing our idea. Special thanks for their professional and technical guidance go to Ms. Dr. Karin Tiermann (DECHEMA), Mr. PD Dr. Dethardt Müller (ViraTherapeutics), Mr. Prof. Ralf Pörtner (TU Hamburg-Harburg) and Mr. Dr. Gerhard Greller (Sartorius Stedim Biotech) from the DECHEMA Working Group “Single-use technology in biopharmaceutical manufacturing”.

The authors

Britta Badertscher, Regine Eibl, Dieter Eibl
Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Wädenswil (Switzerland)

This mini encyclopedia was realised with the support of biotechnet Switzerland and the National Thematic Network (NTN) Swiss Biotech. The language was checked by Dr. Caroline Hyde-Simon from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

The English-language „Single-Use-Technologie from A-Z“ is online since May 2017.