Sartorius and Aber announce biomass measurement alliance

Sartorius has announced a new sales and development partnership alliance with Aber Instruments, a developer of bioprocess and brewing equipment based in Wales.

The collaboration will focus on the creation and distribution of sensor technology for the biopharmaceutical industry that will be used for in-line biomass measurement in cell cultivation and fermentation processes.

Under the terms of the deal, the Sartorius Stedim Biotech division of Sartorius will gain exclusive global marketing and distribution rights to Aber's single-use sensor technology for this market, with Aber supplying measuring instruments that Sartorius will manufacture under licence.

These biomass sensors will be integrated into Sartorius' single-use bioreactors and exclusively marketed in a dual-branding arrangement.

Stefan Schlack, senior vice-president of marketing at Sartorius Stedim Biotech, said the new technology will "help deliver real-time information about the progress of cell culture processes and help biopharmaceutical customers to understand their processes even better and further optimise them – a decisive competitive advantage".

This week, the company also announced a ten percent dividend increase, which reflects the commercial success the firm has recently enjoyed.