Emerson PAT Tools Speed Up Drug Development

Emerson Process Management has expanded its software library with new process analytical technology (PAT) tools designed to speed development and improve production of life-saving drugs. Emerson’s new high fidelity cell growth models and its multivariate process analytics are claimed to enable real-time release of manufactured biological products.

Emerson’s most recent work is the development of models for mammalian cell processes that are currently in Beta testing. Cell growth models for bacterial, fungal, and yeast fermentations are available now. Previous studies indicate that the models can be used to prototype model predictive control of growth and product formulation rates, which can in some cases reduce batch times by 40 percent and improve yields by 10 percent. Emerson’s PAT tools shorten the time and cost of development, and use real-time data to improve quality and yield of released final product, the company says.

The new tools use off-line dynamic computer simulations of bioprocesses that can be run at up to 1000-times real time to determine optimum settings for real-time production. Emerson’s new PAT tools for bioreactor modeling are in a library of software modules that run in its DeltaV digital automation system. The model, configuration, and tools are used to create a “virtual plant” that can simulate batch execution faster than by physical experimentation.

PAT tools are also being developed as embedded software in the DeltaV system to support on-line analytics. The DeltaV system is commonly used in product development and is the process management system embedded in the Broadley-James bioreactor family.