
Pharma and Biotech
Lewatit® ion exchange resins and adsorbers are in widespread use in a variety of applications in the pharmaceutical and bioprocessing industries. Their end products range from food and animal feeds to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that are used in medicinal products. Ion exchange resins and adsorbers help in the treatment and cleaning of products obtained from biomass by providing support with extraction, adsorption and chromatography or through their use in demineralization and neutralization. As well as being used in cleaning, ion exchangers can therefore also help to stabilize products such as amino acids, proteins, vitamins, alkaloids and other active ingredients. In addition, ion exchange resins have become established as substrates for the transportation of active substances in either classic or ground form. Enzyme-catalyzed reactions can also be carried out with the aid of fixed enzymes, whereby the ion exchange matrix offers numerous benefits for the catalysis process.
Water of different qualities is required as a solvent in manufacturing processes in the pharmaceutical and bioprocessing industries. Lewatit® ion exchanger types can be combined to beneficial effect to meet different quality requirements for softening or demineralization of the necessary process water. Our LewaPlus® design software can model various combinations on a made-to-measure basis and thus provides users with maximum confidence that they will obtain the optimum treatment solution. It can also deal with waste water from production facilities through reliable and thorough treatment.
For these and other applications, LANXESS offers a comprehensive range of special ion exchange resins that are tailored to specific requirements.
Lewatit® VP OC 1064 reliably removes surfactants, non-polar organic ingredients with low molecular masses, chlorinated and nitrated hydrocarbons and residues of liquid extracting agents such as tributyl phosphate. This adsorber is also indispensable in applications within the treatment of biotechnology process solutions.
Lewatit® AF 5 is used to treat water containing residues of organic substances such as chlorinated hydrocarbons, MTBE, organic phosphates, amines, pesticides and other metabolites. Active pharmaceutical ingredients can also be isolated.
The optimized absorption capacity and ability to regenerate are clear benefits of the Lewatit® adsorbents.
Lewatit® PH 1074 HEP has been developed with a special pore structure and resin matrix, to enable the absorption and cleaning of organic substances with high molecular weights. It is therefore particularly beneficial in the decolorization and cleaning of biological process solutions, as is required in the production of cane sugar, for example. It can also be used reliably in the cleaning and storage of heparin and similar substances that are extracted from highly complex fermentation solutions.
Lewatit® ion exchange resins make an important contribution to various downstream processes, including extraction, adsorption and chromatography, but also demineralization and neutralization of products and product flows obtained from biomass. Examples of applications include production of amino acids, vitamins and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Today, L-lysine is produced exclusively in accordance with the fermentation method, even though alternative organic chemical synthesis routes have been developed. Racemic DL-lysine [also known as (RS)-lysine and (±)-lysine] is of commercial importance as an alkaline component in salts of active pharmaceutical ingredients, e.g. with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA). L-lysine is a constituent of solutions for infusion for parenteral nutrition and treatment of hypochloremic alkalosis. Lysine is also used to accelerate the effects of analgesic medicines, particularly in combination with ibuprofen. Strongly acidic Lewatit® ion exchangers in gel form, such as Lewatit® S 1668, are used to treat lysine.