Pioneering Sustainable Solutions in Life-Saving Medical Research

BY DAVE KNEALE

AManx company is on the frontline of cuttingedge medical research which could transform the lives of patients across the world - with a little help from one of the most sustainable products there is.

Virtually every therapeutic drug in the world, whether it’s an everyday staple like paracetamol or insulin, to the newest, most advanced treatments, are created in laboratories across the world, and all need to be purified for patient safety. Astrea Bioseparations’ products capture and purify the final product using state-of-the-art techniques. It’s a simple but essential step in a lifesaving industry.

The company was founded over 30 years ago in the Isle of Man and quickly expanded into the UK and beyond. Today it maintains a research and development laboratory in Cambridge, other sites in Montreal, Canada, and Gloucester, UK, and has just commissioned a new facility in Boston in the United States. But its main manufacturing base remains here in the island.

Astrea Bioseparations

These are groundbreaking products being made here on the Isle of Man.

- Chris Brown, Astrea Bioseparations Operations Director

product if ever there was one,’ Chris said. It forms the basis of the majority of our separation systems Over time the industry moved towards plastics and microplastics which, inevitably, have fallen out of favour due to the environmental impact. Seaweed is back, and Astrea Bioseparations has decades of experience to work with. Another is the use of innovative designs with our “Evolve®” range of bioprocessing columns which encourage reusability by using Refresh Kits. Everyone understands the benefit of single use plastics in some arenas, like in healthcare or pharmaceuticals, where infection control and sterile environments are absolutely essential. But change is coming to the industry, however slowly, according to Ari Ojinaka, Astrea Bioseparations’ head of production: ‘Right now it's not a