Molecular biotechnology students explore the development and production of biopharmaceuticals at Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG in Vienna.
Biotechnology is omnipresent in our everyday lives, even if biotechnological products are not perceived in the same way as other technical innovations. Biotechnology can be found in breakfast rolls as well as in highly complex and specific therapeutics in human medicine. Enzymes that are used in baking processes, for example, and active substances such as antibodies for cancer immunotherapy are developed by biotechnologists and produced industrially on a large scale using cell cultures.
What we at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences can only teach students of molecular biotechnology and pharmaceutical biotechnology on a small laboratory scale takes place on a completely different scale in industry. If we develop cells for the production of monoclonal antibodies in the laboratory in so-called upstream processing and cultivate them on a one-liter scale in order to then obtain a few milligrams of product in downstream processing, in industry this involves several cubic meters and kilograms in automated clean room processes.
13 NBb21 students and three members of staff from the Biotechnology department of the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences now had the unique opportunity to get to know the research, development and production of biopharmaceuticals at one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. An excursion to the company site in Vienna took place through the mediation of a former student who, after graduating as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie scholarship holder, is now employed at Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG and is writing her doctoral thesis there. With more than 3,000 employees, this is a global center of the family-run German company Boehringer Ingelheim for cancer research and the development and production of biopharmaceuticals.
The visit began with a comprehensive tour of the state-of-the-art laboratories in the Upstream, Downstream and Analytics departments of the Process Development division, where work is carried out on the development and optimization of processes. Particularly impressive was the organization of the laboratories in high-throughput, e.g. with multi-fermentation systems, with which process parameters can be varied and tested in parallel. After lunch in the company's own canteen, the Senior Manager for Technology and Innovation gave a comprehensive overview of the company's history and its significant contributions to the development of biopharmaceutical active ingredients. This was followed in the afternoon by a guided tour of the Large-Scale Cell Culture production building, which was the highlight of the day. During the 1.5-hour tour along the visitor walkway of the cleanroom facility over several floors, the students were able to observe the production and purification of biopharmaceuticals on an industrial production scale at close range through a glass façade. They were shown and explained the modern fermentation systems, each with a usable volume of 15,000 liters, the process control systems and the systems for purifying the biopharmaceuticals.
During the tours and in a concluding feedback session with company representatives over coffee and cake, the students had the opportunity to speak directly with the scientific staff on site and ask questions. Not only were technical aspects clarified and discussed, but career paths within biotechnology were also highlighted.
We would like to thank Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG and everyone who looked after us in the background or during the tours for the opportunity to tour the plant and for the friendly hospitality. This extremely rare insight taught us two things. Firstly, we were delighted that the methods and processes used in the industrial production of biopharmaceuticals are comprehensively covered in theory and practice in the biotechnology courses in Zittau. However, the dimensions, efficiency and yield are highly astonishing. On the other hand, the company's employees, with their knowledge and great enthusiasm for their profession, have impressively shown us what is possible in modern biotechnology. We would especially like to thank our graduate Sophie for all her time and great personal commitment in organizing and carrying out the excursion and the convivial evening at the "Schwarzer Raben" in Vienna, followed by a guided tour of the city!
