The majority of ‘single-use’ tangential flow filtration (TFF) modules currently on the market are composed of disposable filtration cassettes that are held in place by - definitively non-disposable - stainless steel supports that need cleaning each time the filter is discarded.
The innovative feature of Pall’s new line of Cadence single-use tangential flow filtration (TFF) modules – which were showcased in Hanover this week – is that the cassettes are held in mounts that can be disposed of when the filter is changed.
Pall says that the filters – which are supplied gamma irradiated – are easier to install than other TFF modules currently on the market and that they reduce downtime, validation requirements and post-use conditioning steps.
The word cadence means rhythmic flow and is usually applied to poetry or speech, which is somewhat ironic given that Pall declined to comment when BioPharm-reporter.com asked for more details about the technology and its intended market during our visit to Biotechnica.
In an emailed response to BioPharma-Reporter.com the firm said: “Cadence single-use TFF modules can be easily implemented in single-use TFF systems for concentration and diafiltration steps from R&D to commercial production of biotech products or vaccines."
Other Biotechnica attendees who BioPharma-reporter.com spoke with were more willing to talk about Pall’s technology.
One representative of a rival biomanufacturing systems supplier –who tipped us off about the technology in the first place but asked not to be named - described the system as the industry’s first “truly single-use TFF module.”