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Microbial Fermentation
In the early years, Biocon made its foray into microbial fermentation to support the manufacture of specialty enzymes using surface fermentation or “koji” fermentation technology. This technology was later leveraged to manufacture small molecule generics and led to the development of a unique, patented, automated and contained fermentation technology, the Plafractor™.
In 1999, we commissioned our first large scale submerged (or stirred-tank) fermenters capable of handling bacteria, yeast, fungal and actinomycete cultures. This capacity was further expanded in 2006 on our second site, Biocon Park, to cater to the anticipated additional demand for several small molecule generics such as the statins, immunosuppressants, anti-obesity products and pharmaceutical enzymes. Our multi-product submerged fermentation facility comprises production fermenters ranging in size from 30 m3 to 125 m3 and several seed fermenters, nutrient dosing vessels and media batching tanks. Operations are fully automated to control key fermentation parameters such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and nutrient dosing using sophisticated DCS control.
At the end of the fermentation process, the broth is harvested and processed in different downstream facilities depending on the nature of the product. Recovery of small molecules (secondary metabolites) typically involves whole broth extraction, concentration by distillation and multiple crystallization steps for purification. Pharmaceutical enzymes are typically recovered from fermentation broth using filtration or centrifugation and then concentrated by ultrafiltration and spray drying or bulk lyophilization.
Biocon also uses its microbial fermentation technology to manufacture several therapeutic proteins including human insulin and other biosimilars.
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