Automating Biopharma Manufacturing

ABSTRACT

"With the advance of data science enabling factors such as easy access to scalable memory and computing resources;our growing competence in collecting, storing, and contextualizing data;advances in robotics;[and] the quickly evolving method landscape driven by the open-source community, the benefits of automation and simulation are becoming accessible in the notoriously complicated realm of biopharma manufacturing," says Marcel von der Haar, head of product strategy data analytics at Sartorius. "Plug-and-play" capabilities of automation systems, which enable flexible manufacturing and faster technology transfer, are more important than ever, he says. Walvax Biotech's new COVID-19 mRNA vaccine plant in China is another example of an intelligent and digital plant;it uses Honeywell's batch process control, building and energy management solution systems, and digital twins to monitor assets (5). "Automation brings in the data for machine learning to model the dynamic processes of cell growth and map it against the multiple dimensions provided by advanced sensors," explains Brandl.