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Successful implementation of PTR-MS in bioprocess monitoring. Click here to read more ...

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Ionimed Analytik GmbH perform research and provide analytical instruments for the medical and biotechnology fields based on the technique of proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) and supply gas calibration equipment for use with our PTR-MS and other trace gas detectors.
 
Ionimed in the Biotechnology


Ionimed in the Biotech Industry

Monitoring of production processes in the biotech industry at present relies predominantly on off-line sampling and direct analysis techniques. Our goal is to provide a tool to improve this procedure by enabling online production monitoring. This type of direct monitoring technique is the part of process analytical technology (PAT) initiative currently being recommended by the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to improve quality, safety and efficiency in druf manufacturing processes. Using PTR-MS we can measure volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the headspace air of a fermentor. These VOCs are products of microbiological activity during a fermentation process and provide an indication of the current status and development of a production batch.

 

Our expertise in the field of biotech research has been furthered by our inclusion in the Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (ACIB) in area 5 - bioprocess-monitoring, which we joined in autumn 2010. The ACIB is a non profit research company and conducts top level research in Graz, Vienna and Tyrol making use of the tools and concepts of nature for industrial production.

 

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Our work in ACIB includes collaborations with academic as well as industry partners. Within the framework of this competence centre we are using PTR-MS to monitor volatile compounds produced during fermentations, with the ultimate aim to enable online process monitoring, control and optimization.  

Below are two examples of fermentation processes that have been monitored with PTR-MS. The different compounds show varying time evolutions throughout the processes, which can be used to monitor the status of the fermentation. 

 

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It is envisioned that online monitoring with PTR-MS in future will be an essential tool for optimisation of pharmaceuticals production, helping to provide cost-effective development and manufacture of new and already established medications and other pharmaceutical products.

 

Publications

Luchner et al 2012 Implementation of proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) for advanced bioprocess monitoring, Biotechnol Bioeng. 2012 Dec; 109(12): 3059-69. Epub 2012 Jul 3.
Download author's copy of the pre-peer reviewed version of the article above, which has been published in final form under doi: 10.1002/bit.24579

Gutmann et al 2012   Advanced bioprocess monitoring by implementation of Proton Transfer Reaction - Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) for measurement of volatile compounds in the bioreactor)

Singer et al 2011, Applications of PTR-MS in Medicine and Biotechnology, Technical Article in American Laboratory

Singer et al 2010 (2011) PTR-MS Technology for Process Monitoring and Control in Biotechnology, Process Analytical Chemistry (2010).

 

 
Ionimed Analytik GmbH perform research and provide analytical instruments for the medical and biotechnology fields based on the technique of proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) and supply gas calibration equipment for use with our PTR-MS and other trace gas detectors.
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Providing Expert Solutions for Trace Gas Analysis
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