Year: 2022-23

Company: FujiFilm Irvine Scientifc

Liaison(s): Tom Fletcher, Guy Matthews

Fujifilm Irvine Scientific, which specializes in the development and production of cell culture media, recently developed the Oceo Rover, a proprietary single-use technology that simplifies buffer and media preparation for bioprocessing operations at the scale of hundreds to thousands of liters. In support of the Oceo Rover’s product launch, the Fujifilm TMP aims to better understand and provide data to address customer expectations and concerns relating to environmental sustainability and other metrics that drive product adoption. The team conducted secondary research of existing Stainless Steel (SS) systems and Single Use Technologies (SUT) for buffer and media preparation, with a focus on the environmental impact during the use and end of life phases. To quantify environmental impact metrics such as process mass intensity, water usage, carbon footprint, and general competitive advantages related to overall cost, labor, and facility utilization, the team used BioSolve, a bioprocess analysis tool, to build models for a monoclonal antibody production process using traditional SS systems, SUT with conventional single-use mixing systems, or SUT using the Oceo Rover. In addition, the team conducted interviews with customers, competitors, and environmental advocates to understand perceptions and priorities related to environmental impact and sustainability, weighed against other key quality and functional attributes. By the completion of the project, the FujiFilm TMP aims to provide qualitative and quantitative data to understand what customers focus on when considering single use mixing technologies and to support customer acquisition for the Oceo Rover.