Cell Culture Dish Podcast

Cell Culture Dish Podcast


Reducing Fill Risk in Drug Product Manufacture Utilizing New State-of-the-Art Systems and Platforms

September 15, 2020

In this podcast we talked with DQ Wang, PhD, and Vice President, Formulation, Fill and Finish of WuXi Biologics about their DP4 multi-product fill & finish facility featuring the Vanrx SA25 robotic, gloveless, isolator-based filling system. The system significantly reduces drug product fill risk and provides greater aseptic assurance. The facility is the first in China to use this technology platform and the system fits perfectly with “scale-out” manufacturing paradigms.  This highly-flexible platform can easily transition between various Container Closure Systems (CCS) such as vials, pre-filled syringes and cartridges including the new Ready-To-Use (RTU) formats
We began the interview by talking about the completion of pre-filled syringe drug product runs in one of WuXi Biologics’ drug product fill facilities in Wuxi, China. What made these runs so unique is that they were produced in a new state-of-the-art facility that utilizes the Vanrx SA25 system. The system allows WuXi Biologics to greatly reduce risk for each fill and the amount of human intervention compared to traditional automated fill lines. Dr. Wang went on to say that it also allows them to perform fills for the first time using pre-filled syringes. He noted that adding this capability is another huge step towards their goal of building open-access technology platforms with the most comprehensive capabilities and capacities in the global biologics industry.
I followed up by asking DQ how human intervention can be reduced even further than what is already prevalent in the industry with automated fill lines. He explained that this gloveless, isolator-based system performs fully programmable, robotic functions for all aspects of the fill. The fully robotic functions include VHP sterilization of the container closures, liquid dispensing in the CCS of choice using a single flow path, capping, and delivery of the batch. After those steps, the Clean in Place (CIP) function is also programmed into the run. Lastly, there is integrated programmable and robotic air and particle sampling among other in-process checks and an integrated electronic batch record (EBR). All of this is done without human intervention, thereby removing one of the key areas where mistakes can be made during drug product manufacture.
Next I asked about the CCS chosen, pre-filled syringes, and whether the unit was dedicated solely to this type of configuration. He clarified that the unit is highly flexible and that it can handle a wide variety and sizes of CCS, such as vials and cartridges, in addition to pre-filled syringes. Additionally, the unit is able to handle the new simplified, two-component Ready-to-Use (RTU) CCS. These RTU formats reduce in-run risks. By design, the RTU formats reduce rejection rates caused by particles and other part defects that are more common in traditional rubber stopper and aluminum crimp seal configurations. He added that the system is also capable of performing inert gas overlays and for PFS and cartridges offers a servo-driven vacuum plunger design for bubble-free fills. Thus, the system is very adaptable to a wide-range of CCS types.
We transitioned the discussion to the primary drivers behind their decision to implement the Vanrx SA25 system in this new DP facility. DQ explained that their focus is always on patient safety and there are many reasons why the system is ideal from that perspective. There were other time and economic drivers as well. WuXi Biologics’ manufacturing goal is to quickly and safely advance their customers’ remarkable therapies to market. They knew that through this systems’ modular design and installation ease that it would accelerate the process of adding DP filling capacity, especially when compared to conventional filling systems. The qualification and validation of the process also takes less time due to the design properties of the modular system.