INTENSO · Gaining Productivity, Cost Efficiency and Sustainability in the Downstreaming Processing of Bio Products by novel Integration and Intensification strategies

The European Life science and chemical industries increasingly depend on effi-cient, sustainable, and cost-effective bioprocessing platforms to remain competi-tive. A critical assessment of current bottlenecks during (bio) manufacturing clearly indicates that the recovery and purification of biologicals in large scale in responsible for many inefficiencies.INTENSO proposes an evaluation of the current situation of the downstream processing scenario with the aim of identifying inefficiencies and concomitantly introduce a debottlenecking overarching strategy. The later will be build up on the basis of a multidisciplinary approach, which considers opportunities to im-prove the process technology and underlying chemistry / biology and materials science at the same time. INTENSO will work alongside 4 technological axes, targeting promising and up-coming technologies and tailoring such technologies to the manufacturing of various classes of (bio) products. Intensification of individual unit operations and global process integration, as well as, dovetailing with fermentation / cell cultivation will be employed to the mentioned end.INTENSO will target new classes of (bio) products like Monoclonal Antibodies (Mabs), pDNA (e.g. for genetic vaccination), Virus Like Particles (VLP) or nano-plexes. All the mentioned new products are part of most industrial R&D pipelines and offer an excellent opportunity to introduce innovative bioprocessing.The results of the project are expected to contribute to the understanding of current industrial downstream processing practice, to the definition and alleviation of current inefficiencies, to the development and / or implementation of novel technologies, and to more efficient / sustainable and cost effective (bio) manufacturing. Various technologies will be studied utilizing a nano-to-process strategy so as to introduce integration / intensification during bioprocessing.