Sartorius: Empowering Biotech Scientists and Engineers across the Globe

As the Healthcare Reform in China spreads nationwide to cut prices of drugs and improve their efficacy and safety, flourishing Chinese biotechnology companies are increasingly investing in new advances in gene and cell therapy. Bioventure companies are under mounting pressure to offer more personalized treatment while keeping up with increased regulations and quality standards in the market, driven by increased regulatory requirements globally and locally. In the wake of the growth in biosimilars markets and the shift to translational research, the push for innovation in the industry ushers in industrialization challenges coupled with heightened R&D standards and the requirement for more regulations. Evidently, when it comes to discovery in research, development, and production of biotherapeutics, it is a daunting task to increase speed to market and boost the productivity, all while ensuring the quality, purity, and integrity of the product. With a strong technical team throughout Asia, including service engineers and field application specialists across the APAC region, Sartorius, an international provider of laboratory and process technologies and equipment is changing this narrative. Through a wide range of innovative products and high-quality services, the company helps its customers in the biotech, pharmaceutical, and food industries implement complex and quality-critical processes in biopharmaceutical production and laboratory environments in a time and cost-efficient manner.

Built with a singular focus on science research, pharmaceutical, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing, Sartorius is well-positioned as a comprehensive solutions provider across the value chain from R&D, production, to in-process Quality Control (QC). “Covering the entire value-added chain of the biopharmaceutical, Sartorius products and services ensure novel therapies reach the market faster and are more accessible to more people worldwide,” mentions Grace Johnston, Head of Marketing at Sartorius.

Sartorius Bioprocess Division provides innovative single-use products and equipment for the manufacture of biologics, enabling more efficient and less expensive production. Through the Bioprocess Solutions Division, Sartorius offers a broad product portfolio that covers all steps in the production of a biopharmaceutical. The company’s core technologies, such as filtration, fermentation, cell cultivation, and single-use bags and containers have been leading market positions for years. Sartorius’ Laboratory Products and Services Division, on the other hand, equips laboratories performing research and quality control with premium lab essentials—market-leading laboratory products, consumables, and services—to simplify workflows and advance speed to market.

Sartorius’ revolutionary technologies including the iQue Screener PLUS provide rapid, multifactorial results to enable deeper insights and ensure the choice, quality, and integrity of the client’s biopharmaceutical product. Sartorius’ revolutionary technologies including the iQue Screener PLUS provide rapid, multifactorial results to enable deeper insights and ensure the choice, quality, and integrity of the client’s biopharmaceutical product.

“Keeping in mind that safety and compliance are critical in the sampling, detection and microbiological quantification processes, our microbiological QC portfolio—air monitoring, bioburden, and sterility testing—comprises fit-for-purpose, easy-to-use, and efficient tools that are specifically designed to help our customers monitor and reduce contamination risks,” mentions Sook Yee Loh, Head of Sales, Life Science Research, APAC at Sartorius. Collaboratively, both these divisions enable Sartorius’ customers to manufacture traditional drugs and biopharmaceuticals safely, more efficiently, and less expensively.

As a trusted partner for the biopharmaceutical industry and laboratories, Sartorius plays a vital role in regulatory compliance along with providing tools that enable customers to stay at the cutting-edge of innovation. The uniqueness of Sartorius stems from its acquisitions of U.S. companies: IntelliCyt and Essen BioScience in the field of cell analytics. Powered by a combination of unique technologies in the area of high throughput (IntelliCyt) and real-time quantitative analysis (Essen), Sartorius’ unrivaled solutions provide significant benefits to biopharmaceuticals’ R&D workflows.

Sartorius also continues to innovate in the space of lab weighing. Loh and Eirik Pettersen, Head of Sales, Applied Research, LPS Division, inform, “In March 2019, we launched Cubis II^®, the next generation of modular premium balances for scientists in R&D and analytical laboratories needing the most reliable lab weighing results. Sartorius’s Cubis^® II is the first balance that supports all requirements to achieve 21 CFR part 11 and EU Annex 11 compliance without needing a single sheet of paper and eliminating the possibility to falsify process data and/or signatures.”

With over 8000 employees, Sartorius owns and operates production facilities in Europe, America, and Asia, as well as enjoys a presence in 110 counties. The corporate culture at the firm is shaped by three core values: sustainability, openness, and enjoyment. “These form the bedrock of our company’s innovative and competitive strength,” asserts Johnston. As for the future, Sartorius has aggressive expansion plans to optimally continue serving the growing needs in the market. In 2019, Sartorius is all set to complete the major part of its multi-year investment program to expand the production capacity of its manufacturing facilities and extend its group headquarters. “Furthermore, Sartorius’ strategic initiatives for 2025 in the APAC region will center on building upon our strong China market presence, adding high impact innovations to our product portfolio and extending our manufacturing base in Asia,” concludes Loh.