Process technology for biological product manufacturing and downstream purification

1. A process for purifying a biological product, comprising:

receiving, via an input line, a heterogeneous mixture containing the biological product;

removing impurities from the heterogeneous mixture by filtration in a dynamic filtration module by feeding the biological product from at least one output head in fluid communication with the input line to the dynamic filtration module under negative pressure, thereby producing a filtrate comprising the biological product, the dynamic filtration module comprising a dynamic filtration apparatus having a filter membrane extending between a feed reel and a collection reel with at least one support member having a substantially smooth contact surface, a target region of the filter membrane that is configured to receive the heterogeneous mixture from at least one output head, and a membrane support member with a substantially smooth contact surface that is in communication with a vacuum collection system that is positioned between the feed reel and the collection reel;

transferring the filtrate to a first module capable of separating the solution into two or more fractions wherein at least one fraction contains the biological product, the first module comprising an affinity-based purification apparatus, wherein the first module has at least one first inlet and at least one first outlet configured to permit fluid flow between the at least one first inlet and the at least one first outlet via a mechanical rotary system comprising a vessel carousel containing at least one discrete vessel comprising a suspension of beads;

transferring the fraction containing the biological product from the at least one outlet of the first module to a second module having at least one inlet for receiving flow from the at least one first outlet of the first module, the second module comprises at least one free-flow electrophoresis apparatus, wherein the second module has at least one second inlet and at least one second outlet and is configured to permit continuous fluid flow between the second inlet and the second outlet; and

recovering the biological product.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the affinity-based purification apparatus further comprises a lid system and a collection vessel system in fluid communication with the at least one discrete vessel.

3. The process of claim 2 , wherein the lid system comprises at least one lid having a gasket, at least two buffer inlets, a filling inlet, a gas inlet, and a venting valve.

4. The process of claim 2 , wherein the lid system is capable of motion along the z-axis, the vessel carousel is capable of rotational motion in a plane transverse to the z-axis, and the collection vessel is capable of motion along the z-axis.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the vessel carousel includes at least one position to bind the biological product, at least one position to wash to remove unbound products, at least one position to elute and collect the biological product, and at least one regeneration position to enable recycling of the beads.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the surface of the beads is coupled to Protein A, Protein G, Protein L, an antigenic protein, a protein, a receptor, an antibody, or an aptamer configured to selectively bind said biological product.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the initial concentration of the beads ranges from about 0.01% to about 25% by weight.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the beads have a diameter ranging from about 0.2 μm to about 200 μm.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the beads remain mobile during the process to maintain an increased surface area available for binding.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the free-flow electrophoresis apparatus comprises electrode channels, including an anodic electrode channel and a cathodic electrode channel, having liquid contact with a main separation channel via a wall gap, the apparatus further having at least one electrode channel de-bubbler comprising at least one gas permeable and hydrophobic membrane configured to remove bubbles by a vacuum system creating a bubble-free main separation channel, and at least one liquid circuit breaker.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process maintains approximately a constant flow rate in the dynamic filtration module, the first module, and the second module, and wherein the flow rate ranges from about 0.1 mL/minute to about 50 mL/minute.

12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process for purifying a biological product is performed at a temperature in the range of about 4° C. to about 37° C.

13. The process of claim 1 , further comprising at least two dynamic filtration modules, wherein each dynamic filtration module has a filter membrane comprising the same or different pore sizes.

14. The process of claim 1 , further comprising at least two free-flow electrophoresis modules configured to operate in an isoelectric focusing mode, a zone electrophoresis mode, an isotachophoresis mode, or combinations thereof.

15. The process of claim 1 , further comprising at least two dynamic filtration modules, at least two affinity-based purification modules, or at least two free-flow electrophoresis modules operated in parallel.