News

Posted On: 05/04/2005

Surface Cleanability Study to Shed Light on Biofilms

PharmaManufacturing.com

This summer, the Ohio State University Research Foundation will launch a two-year study focused on optimizing materials surface cleaning. The study will focus on biofilm and product residual removal from stainless steel and fluoropolymers using available clean-in-place equipment. Unlike previous laboratory research projects, this study will be conducted on materials and at conditions like those used for commercial practices.

Entegris, Inc. (Chaska, Minn.) is funding the project, entitled, “Impact of Materials and Finish on Removal by CIP of Biofilms and Product Residuals for the Biotech, Pharmaceutical and Food Equipment Industries.” The company contributed $300,000 as well as $125,000 in donated CIP equipment and technology.

The study should help the industry better understand and improve current CIP and even validation practices, and lead to improved equipment in the future. It will also shed light on biofilm formation, a process that is not well understood. Current research indicates that proteins are probably involved in the initial attachment of the films, but biofilms are quite complex and typically much more difficult to remove from process equipment than product. The study will also examine the rate of removal for individual biological components in biotech and pharmaceutical processes.