Fluidics specialist Bürkert Fluid Control Systems has become a strategic investor in Germany-based startup Green Elephant Biotech with an eye on more efficient and sustainable cell cultivation.
The partnership gives Bürkert access to Green Elephant’s proprietary cell culture system, CellScrew, which enables an increased growth surface for adherent cell cultures with the same volume. The system is additively manufactured from polylactide, a biopolymer obtained from plants, using 3D printing. According to Green Elephant, this reduces the carbon footprint by around 90 % compared to conventional systems.
“Together with Bürkert, we want to turn the CellScrew into a fully-fledged bioreactor. This requires liquids to be exchanged, gases to be monitored and processes to be regulated. Bürkert has the technical components and expertise to integrate this into a system. Together, we want to develop a cost-effective, reliable and sustainable production platform for the pharmaceutical industry, especially for personalized medicine,” said Green Elephant founder Joel Eichmann.
Bürkert, headquartered in Ingelfingen, Germany, operates a sales network spanning over 30 countries and employs over 3,700 people worldwide. The company operates five facilities across Germany, China and the U.S. as well as five R&D centers.
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