Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB), a Sartorius company headquartered in Aubagne, France and a supplier to the pharma and biotech industries, has launched a research and development program at its facility in Aubagne with EUR 23 million ($25 million) in funding from La Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur Region and la Metropole Aix-Marseilles Provence, local government bodies. The funds will also be used to expand production capacity at the Aubagne facility. SSB plans to expand its production capacity by one-third and double the size of its logistics platform.

The program will also aid in the production of 50 new products, SSB said. In a recent product launch, the company introduced a 2,000-L single-use bag (Flexsafe STR), which offers lateral ports for temperature control and dissolved oxygen/pH control.

In addition to the expansion at Aubagne, SSB has other projects to expand its single-use capabilities. The company recently extended its manufacturing site in Stonehouse, UK, where it manufactures single-use products for lab-sale cell cultivation as well as for microbiological and analytical quality control. It also currently investing in an expansion of its filter and bag manufacturing site in Yauco, Puerto Rico, where the company has been manufacturing single-use bags since 2012. Furthermore, the company is also currently expanding production capacities for membrane filter manufacturing and extending the Sartorius campus site in Goettingen, Germany.

Source: Sartorius Stedim Biotech