Continuous Processing for Production of Biopharmaceuticals

The merits of continuous processing over batch processing are well known in the manufacturing industry. Continuous operation results in shorter process times due to omission of hold steps, higher productivity due to reduced shutdown costs, and lowers labor requirement. Over the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in continuous processing within the bioprocessing community, specifically those involved in production of biotherapeutics. Continuous operations in upstream processing (perfusion) have been performed for decades. However, recent development of continuous downstream operations has led the industry to envisage an integrated bioprocessing platform for efficient production. The regulators, key players in the biotherapeutic industry, have also expressed their interest and willingness in this migration from the traditional batch processing. This paper aims to review major developments in continuous bioprocessing in the past decade. A discussion of pros and cons of the different proposed approaches has also been presented.