- 18 February 2008 -

Show preview: INTERPHEX 2008

The March issue of Filtration+Separation includes a preview of this year's INTERPHEX show, held in Philadelphia . We spoke to a few exhibitors to see what they were offering at this year's event.

Thousands of pharmaceutical industry professionals gather annually at INTERPHEX to meet one-on-one with technical experts, see the newest products and equipment, view live demonstrations and get expert advice on specific challenges. Filtration +Separation takes a look at what the show has to offer.

The location

The exhibition is held at the Pennsylvania Convention Centre, Philadelphia from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 March . Last year the event attracted over 16,000 visitors, with over 25% of those attending involved in the processing aspect of the pharma business.

What's going on?

As well the exhibitors themselves - which number over 900 this year - visitors are able to attend several networking receptions, listen to keynote speakers and enjoy the conference We spoke to some of the exhibitors at this year's event to see what they were planning for visitors.

Camfil Farr

 

What is driving the pharma marketplace?

Cost reduction both for capital equipment and on-going maintenance (in our case air filters) is driving the industry. Energy cost reduction is the biggest factor which fits with our '5 star' energy saving products.

What new developments are you working on?

Camfil Farr developed the first LCC (Life Cycle Cost) software in the industry in the early 90s. In 2007 we introduced an enhanced version which allows us to conduct a site survey of all air filtration products on site, link it directly to an LCC analysis and therefore demonstrate energy savings, reduced filter change outs, less disposal etc.

What products are you showcasing?

We will continue our message on LCC and will show a new BIBO (Bag In Bag Out) automated containment system, BIBO Dust Collector, in addition to our terminal and supply Pharmaseal housings.

What applications are these suitable for?

Containment of hazardous compounds is the challenge the industry faces today. EHS (Environment, Health & Safety) gets heavily involved in the filtration selection to minimise exposure to the operators, product and to protect the environment. Camfil Farr containment systems & FARR APC's (sister company jointly showing) BIBO Dust Collecting Systems are proven solutions for these applications.

What makes these products different?

Our product development team globally is driven by our sales group, we pass the message directly from the end user to reduce LCC, minimise risk to people/product and the environment. An example of this was recent further improvements to our BIBO Dust Collectors. We had multiple meetings with EH&S, Facility Management and Maintenance from 'Big Pharma' and asked them 'what is the ideal dust collector'. From there we develop accordingly and strive to deliver the 'ideal' system which has proven a great success.

What does the future hold for Camfil Farr?

Camfil Farr continues to be the worlds leading supplier to the Bio-Pharma industry, as the industry goes through further consolidation, we are uniquely positioned to be the supplier of choice due to our superior products, our technical know how and geographic positioning to serve our customers locally.

What do you enjoy about INTERPHEX?

INTERPHEX is simply the best show to see the latest developments. From a sales point of view, the networking is second to none, Philadelphia is a wonderful city with a great history and we look forward to an exciting event.

Christ Water Technologies

 

What is driving the pharma marketplace?

We see a high interest in shorter project cycles in order to reduce "time to market". Another issue is the request for higher manufacturing safety (PAT = Process Analytic Technology) which means that the whole manufacturing process is controlled permanently by means of modern intelligent automation systems.

What new developments are you working on?

We developed our own control software for all liquid processes in the pharmaceutical industry. Liprocontrol is an easy-to-use software tool, based on WinCC flexible, which shows all process parameters on the screen.

What products are you showcasing?

Sanisal - the first regeneration agent for water softener with sanitising effect and our Vapotron pure-steam generators.

What applications is this suitable for?

Sanisal is an ideal alternative to expensive sanitising methods such as hotwater sanitisation of water softeners. Vapotron is used for production of pure-steam for various pharmaceutical applications.

What makes these products innovative?

Sanisal reduces energy and investment costs and further eliminates the biggest microbiological risk in water softener. Vapotron steam generators are manufactured according to the natural evaporation principle. This means that the heat exchangers are always immersed in water and thus the risk of rouging is greatly reduces.

What does the future hold for Christ Water?

We have an excellent product pipeline and a very good order backlog. Thus, we are convinced that we will continue our successful market activities and proceed with our turnkey strategy.

What do you enjoy about INTERPHEX?

INTERPHEX is the best opportunity in North America to meet the senior people and decision-makers of the pharmaceutical industry.

Mar Cor Purification

 

What is driving the pharma marketplace?

The pharmaceutical industry has been moving to more standardised water system designs in order to reduce total procurement costs and time, increase reliability, and provide for a faster validation of the systems. Previously, water system procurement was an expensive, lengthy process that often resulted in delays in commissioning facilities, and produced a custom design that was difficult to validate. The industry is now very receptive to manufacturers standard single skid designs.

For filtration and disinfection control, microbiological removal continues to be a key area for emphasis in all phases of manufacturing and research. The drive to increase yields and reduce costs of manufacturing have continued to play a factor in new product development for filters & sterilants. Recent news about MRSA outbreaks, control of bacteria in hospital settings and environmentally safe disinfection procedures are the most visible of the marketplace drivers.

What new developments are you working on?

We actually have product launches in all 3 areas. For pharmaceutical water, we are introducing a single skid design for producing USP purified water. This will be available in several configurations that would meet the needs of most applications.

For filtration we are introducing a tangential flow hollow fibre filter that can be used in processing various solutions in pharmaceutical manufacturing. he most common use would be to filter fermentation broths in biotech processing.

For disinfectants, we are introducing a Mini Fog device for dry fogging small enclosures such as hoods in laboratories. This will replace a very labor intensive and inefficient process of manually cleaning these areas with a process that is fast and very effective.

What does the future hold for Mar Cor?

Mar Cor Purification is a company focused on providing innovative solutions with Filtration , Water Purification and Disinfection technologies for the medical, life science & industrial marketplace. As a wholly, owned subsidiary of Cantel Medical Corp. (NYSE:CMN), Mar Cor Purification is uniquely positioned to offer the medical, life science and industrial marketplace brand name products such as FiberFlo hollow fiber membrane filtration, Biolab complete USP water purification equipment and services, and proven Minncare & Actril sterilant products. We deliver value to our customers by improving product quality, reducing operating costs, protecting capital investments, and safeguarding people's lives. Mar Cor has service offices in 17 cities in the US and Canada with six ion exchange resin regeneration plants strategically located in Atlanta , Boston , Chicago , Philadelphia , Montreal and Toronto . We offer support with design engineering capabilities, 24/7 service coverage, field application sales, experienced service technicians, and a fleet of stocked service vehicles. For more information on Mar Cor Purification, visit our website at http://www.mcpur.com.

What do you enjoy about INTERPHEX?

The annual show is the largest gathering of pharmaceutical /biotech related professionals. It is an excellent forum for professionals from the industry to attend technical sessions and visit with suppliers to understand the trends affecting their industry.

It is also a very good opportunity for suppliers, such as Mar Cor Purification, to meet with key suppliers and distributors.

Sefar

 

What is driving the pharma/biochem marketplace currently?

Cost cutting, efficiency and higher yields. Smaller batches of high potency product. Majors are outsourcing to contract manufacturers, especially in the API development and production. Contract players more cost conscious and are in a learning curve on GMP and Pharmaceutical grade materials. Generics taking stronger position in the market from our vantage point.

What new developments are you working on to address this?

Promoting products that offer longer life if applicable or better retention for better yields. Offering premium materials that meet regulatory requirements may be more up front but in long run save money, time and lost product.

What products are you showcasing at INTERPHEX 2008?

PharmaGrade fabrics and manufacturing for centrifuge liners/bags, nutsche cloths & fluid bed dryer bags. Welded(non sewn) construction for higher purity levels.

What applications is this/are these suitable for?

All late stage API filtration applications or wet granulation in finishing.

What makes these products innovative/better/more suited to applications than past filter media?

As we are vertically integrated with our own weaving mills we can control the material from yarn source to finished product. We use a special, validated fabric wash system that cleans extraneous weaving lubricants and spin finishes for lower extractables. Special handling in fabrication plus new fabrication methods offer cleaner product contact surfaces with lower instance of contamination from the filter media.

What does the future hold for Sefar?

Continued expansion of PharmaGrade line to cover broader range of products. Weaving and producing finer fabrics for enhanced retention of small particle sizes. PharmaSphere screens for Microsphere manufacturing.

What do you enjoy about INTERPHEX?

Has produced excellent leads over the years and has been one of our most successful shows. Good opportunity to see end user as well as OEM customers under one roof. Looking forward to show in Philly.

 

Alfa Laval

 

What is driving the pharma/biochem marketplace currently?

The marketplace is currently being driven by the production of new drugs using cell culture fermentation, as well as an increased usage of contract manufacturing facilities.

What new developments are you working on to address this?

Alfa Laval will launch a new production scale disc stack centrifugal separator, designed specifically for primary clarification of shear-sensitive cell culture processing - the Culturefuge 400.

What products are you showcasing at INTERPHEX 2008?

Alfa Laval will showcase the new Culturefuge 400 high-speed centrifuge, developed for larger scale applications involving mammalian cell cultures and other shear-sensitive biological material.

What applications is this/are these suitable for?

The fully hermetic Culturefuge 400 is ideally suited for large-scale (more than 10,000 liters) cell culture separation, and is capable of harvesting 20-30 m3 of material from bioreactors in only a few short hours.

What makes these product innovative/better/more suited to applications?

The Culturefuge 400 is designed with a hermetic outlet that prevents product contact with air, eliminating any possibility for foaming or oxidation. In addition, a hollow spindle inlet provides gentle acceleration of the feed liquid, thus minimizing lysis of shear-sensitive cells.

What does the future hold for Alfa Laval?

Through our continuous R&D investments and efforts, Alfa Laval is looking forward to enhancing our market leadership in centrifugal separation, heat transfer and fluid handling products and solutions for the biopharm industry.

What do you enjoy about INTERPHEX?

INTERPHEX provides a unique forum for us to meet the leading companies who are driving the development of new drugs based on cell culture fermentation.

Filtration+Separation spoke to the organisers of the event to find out more:

 

In 2007, INTERPHEX had a total of 9,881 attendees where 41.3 % of those attendees were at a Director/Managerial level. 43.8% of those who attended INTERPHEX 2007 have significant influence or is the final decision maker on buying and purchasing decisions.

One event now covers the spectrum of life sciences.

 

INTERPHEX is the world's most trusted source for leading-edge technology, education, and sourcing of the products and services that drive scientific innovation for Life Sciences manufacturing from drug development to market - accelerating regulated products for patient care globally.

INTERPHEX is the only Life Sciences event that represents a true cross-section of the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries. Industry-leading professionals worldwide make INTERPHEX the industry's annual focal point for driving change and efficiencies for the global pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical market.

INTERPHEX will once again feature the co-location of PharmaMedDevice, the only comprehensive event to focus on the convergence of medical device, pharmaceutical, and biologic industries.

This year, INTERPHEX has partnered with Biotechnica, the leading biotechnology show in Europe, to feature Biotechnica America making INTERPHEX the most comprehensive annual gathering in the life sciences industry!

Benefits of Attending

 

INTERPHEX is where innovation is introduced to the industry. It's the ideal opportunity to find solutions to your day-to-day concerns, and meet with colleagues and experts who can bring a new perspective to production and manufacturing issues. At INTERPHEX, you will:

Find new, more cost-effective alternatives to existing processes and procedures.

Discover highly efficient new technologies that can significantly boost your productivity.

Meet partners who can provide instant access to cutting-edge technologies.

Acquire new skills and insights from qualified experts.

See the most innovative new products from more than 1,000 exhibitors.

Evaluate the full range of competing solutions in every product category.

Meet qualified outsourcing partners and service providers.

Learn from industry experts who share effective strategies to maximize efficiency, enhance product quality, ensure regulatory compliance and more.

Upgrade your skills, your knowledge and your on-the-job effectiveness.

Network with peers from across the country and around the world.

Celebrate outstanding achievements in facility design and constructions at the third annual Facility of the Year Awards.

Hear free keynotes by industry thought leaders and innovators.

 

www.interp hex.com

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