MilliporeSigma has agreed to acquire Natrix Separations, a Burlington, Ontario, Canada-based provider of hydrogel membrane products for single-use chromatography.

This acquisition complements MilliporeSigma’s efforts in bioprocessing. Natrix Separations’ patented technology consists of a polymeric hydrogel formed within a support matrix. The support matrix provides mechanical strength while the hydrogel properties determine the separation chemistry of the product, according to Natrix.

Natrix’ technology allows impurity removal in a single-use format, which is compatible with so-called “next-generation bioprocessing.” Next-generation bioprocessing refers to any technology, expendable, or system that changes the existing monoclonal antibody manufacturing template through unit operation intensification, connection of unit operations, or fully continuous processing, according to information from MilliporeSigma.

Natrix markets both an anion exchange membrane and cation exchange membrane. Natrix is developing additional products in order to enable a fully single-use, full-scale biological purification process.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2017.

Source: MilliporeSigma