Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America and GeminiBio Enter Strategic Partnership to Advance Application of Inline Buffer Formulation and Streamline Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Processes

• The strategic partnership will establish a joint solution for the efficient creation of buffers created from concentrates delivered directly to manufacturing facilities, increasing productivity and speed to market.
• Costs for biopharmaceutical production can be significantly reduced, positively affecting the accessibility of medication for patients globally.
• This partnership will be a catalyst for innovation at both companies, driving new industry standards.

NEW YORK, CHICAGO & SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America, a subsidiary of diversified Japanese multinational company Asahi Kasei, and GeminiBio have entered into a strategic partnership to advance the application of inline buffer formulation (IBF) in the biopharmaceutical industry. Asahi Kasei Bioprocess, with decades of expertise in IBF and the developers of the award-winning MOTIV™ system, and GeminiBio, with industry leading bioprocess liquid manufacturing capabilities, are combining two high-efficiency solutions for buffer management to biopharmaceutical manufacturers in one package. This will result in fewer bottlenecks in manufacturing, streamlining the IBF process. The companies entered the agreement in March 2023 with the initial scope of the North American biopharmaceutical industry.

Buffers are used extensively in the development and manufacturing process for all biopharmaceuticals. The manufacturing of buffers is time consuming and resource intensive, and often a significant bottleneck in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing process. The Asahi Kasei Bioprocess MOTIV IBF™ system is built specifically to debottleneck downstream processing to move product more efficiently through the manufacturing process. However, creating the buffer concentrates that are used with these systems has remained a challenge. Pairing MOTIV with GeminiBio’s pre-mixed concentrates provides biopharmaceutical manufacturers a total solution, resulting in a new level of efficiency and cost savings throughout the biopharmaceutical manufacturing process, yielding benefits throughout the entire value chain.

“Our partnership with GeminiBio solidifies both companies’ commitment to improving the efficiency and efficacy of buffer formulation,” says Chris Rombach, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America. “The combination of Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America’s long-standing buffer formulation expertise and GeminiBio’s state-of-the-art buffer concentrate manufacturing capabilities will aid bioprocessors to reduce costs, minimize facility footprint and assure on time, every time buffer production.”

Moving forward, while this collaboration will provide biopharmaceutical manufacturers with immediate benefit, the value is expected to increase exponentially over time with the open sharing of data and joint testing that will spur innovation at both companies. The MOTIV system will be better acclimated to immediately support a wider variety of pre-mixed buffer concentrates as the variety of the concentrates diversifies.

”We are excited to collaborate with Asahi Kasei Bioprocess to help the biotech industry further address the buffer bottleneck”, said Brian Parker, CEO of GeminiBio. “GeminiBio is committed to helping our customers simplify upstream and downstream process liquid manufacturing, and supporting inline dilution with ready to use buffer concentrates for the MOTIV IBF™ system allows us to provide an even higher level of simplification for our customers.”

The partnership between Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America and GeminiBio exemplifies the dedication of the Asahi Kasei Group to its mission of contributing to life and living for people around the world as it paves the way to innovation under their current medium-term management plan: Be a Trailblazer.

About Asahi Kasei Bioprocess

The Fluid Management Business Unit of Asahi Kasei Bioprocess is devoted to solving therapeutic product safety, efficiency, and purity challenges within the pharmaceutical and bioprocessing industries. With technology platforms for oligonucleotide synthesis, buffer formulation, chromatography, and filtration, our bioprocess systems, columns, and automation solutions advance GMP manufacturing of critical drug substances around the world. Built with pride, built with quality, built to exceed expectations. “Built for You.” For more information, please visit https://fluidmgmt.ak-bio.com.

About GeminiBio

Founded in 1985, GeminiBio serves the global biotechnology industry, from basic research to commercial production, with a focus on helping our customers accelerate the development of life enhancing biotherapeutics by streamlining and improving their cell culture and process liquid manufacturing workflows. The company’s products are organized into two core verticals – Cell Culture Solutions and Process Liquid Solutions. Located in West Sacramento, California, GeminiBio has 57,000 square feet of cGMP manufacturing space that is segregated between animal origin free and animal component manufacturing. GeminiBio is an ISO 13485 certified, FDA registered Class 1 Medical Device Manufacturer, aligned with 21 CFR Part 820. For more information, visit www.geminibio.com.

About Asahi Kasei

The Asahi Kasei Group contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its foundation in 1922 with ammonia and cellulose fiber businesses, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through the proactive transformation of its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age. With more than 46,000 employees worldwide, the company contributes to a sustainable society by providing solutions to the world's challenges through its three business sectors of Material, Homes, and Health Care. Its health care operations include devices and systems for acute critical care, dialysis, therapeutic apheresis, transfusion, and manufacture of biotherapeutics, as well as pharmaceuticals and diagnostic reagents. For more information, visit https://www.asahi-kasei.com/.

Asahi Kasei is also dedicated to sustainability initiatives and is contributing to reaching a carbon neutral society by 2050. To learn more, visit https://www.asahi-kasei.com/sustainability/.

Asahi Kasei Media Inquiries
ATTN: Steve Foy
Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America, Inc.
Steve.Foy@ak-bio.com

GeminiBio Media Inquiries
GeminiBio: Patrick Riley, priley@geminibio.com
GeminiBio: Brian Parker, bparker@geminibio.com